SENATORS PREDICT DRUG IMPORTATION BILL WILL FINALLY PASS CONGRESS

Friday, January 9, 2009

CONTACT: Justin Kitsch
or  Brenden Timpe
PHONE: 202-224-2551

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) --- American consumers may finally get a price break on prescription drugs, two U.S. Senators predicted today.

U.S. Senators Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) said today that with a new president who supports the legislation, they expect the new Congress to pass their bipartisan bill that will allow American consumers to safely import lower-priced, Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs from other countries. Dorgan and Snowe said their legislation will bring consumers immediate relief and will ultimately force the pharmaceutical industry to lower drug prices in the United States.

Experts estimate the bill would save American consumers $50 billion over the next decade, including more than $10.6 billion in federal government savings.

Dorgan and Snowe introduced bi-partisan legislation that had over 30 Senate co-sponsors in the last session of Congress. They intend to reintroduce the bill this month and expect it to pass in this Congress.

“U.S. consumers are charged the highest prices in the world for FDA-approved prescription drugs,” Dorgan said. “That's just not fair, and I think this session of Congress will finally get it changed.”

“In the face of escalating prescription drug prices and an uncertain economy, many Americans have been unable to afford to take their medications as prescribed,” Senator Snowe said. “We cannot allow people to forgo their health needs in order to keep food on the table. This legislation would apply competition to halt this alarming trend and effectively lower domestic drug prices.”

Both President-Elect Obama and Senator McCain co-sponsored the Dorgan/Snowe bill to repeal the law that prohibits consumers from re-importing FDA-approved drugs. President Bush and some in Congress blocked the legislation but the two Senators believe that with the President-Elect's support of the legislation, relief from skyrocketing prescription drug prices may finally be on the way.

The legislation contains strong safeguards to prohibit drug counterfeiting or any other practices that would put the consumer at risk, and applies only to FDA-approved prescription drugs produced in FDA-approved plants from countries with comparable safety standard.

“The pharmaceutical industry's drug pricing is unfair to U.S. consumers,” Dorgan said. “We are charged the highest prices in the world for drugs that same industry sells for a fraction of the price in most other countries. That is unfair and it needs to stop. In Europe, they have had a program called Parallel Trading, which has allowed consumers to safely purchase prescription drugs from other countries in Europe for over two decades. American consumers ought to have the same opportunity to purchase FDA approved prescription drugs from other countries where the prices are far lower.”

“This legislation provides critical funding to the FDA to assure the safety of our drug supply,” Snowe said. In fact, the failure to pass our bill in the past not only deprived Americans of more affordable medications, it has prevented FDA from imposing proper oversight to assure the safety of all medications. Prompt passage of this legislation in the 111th Congress will help assure both affordability and safety.”

Dorgan and Snowe cited the drug Lipitor, which is one of the most widely sold prescription drugs in the United States, as an example of pricing disparities. They said Americans pay twice as much as Canadians for Lipitor – despite the fact it is the same pill put in the same bottle made in the same country under FDA inspection.

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