Douglas
stumps for Canadian drugs
05/06/04
Bennigton Banner
WASHINGTON -- Gov.
James Douglas volunteered Vermonters to be the guinea pigs
in a pilot program for importing cheaper Canadian prescription
medications.
"Given our relatively
small population and our proximity to the border, approval
of our petition would allow Vermont to serve as a model for
the rest of the nation," Douglas said in prepared testimony
before a federal task force exploring the feasibility of drug
re-importation.
Douglas urged panelists,
including Surgeon General Richard H. Carmona, to open the
Canadian pharmaceutical market in an attempt to lower consumer
drug costs. Douglas said his administration has already crafted
a model for managing drug re-importation and is petitioning
for its approval from the Food and Drug Administration.
"Notwithstanding the
complexity of this market, one thing is very clear: Vermonters,
and indeed all Americans, are not getting the lower cost options
they need and deserve," added Douglas, a Republican.
Douglas' testimony
comes just days after Secretary of Health and Human Services
Tommy Thompson conceded that legal drug re-importation is
likely to become a reality in the near future.
At a recent news conference
announcing the new Medicare prescription drug benefit discount
cards, Thompson said he expects Congress to approve re-importation
and added that he would urge the White House not to oppose
the legislation.
Attorneys general from
18 states, including Vermont, sent a letter to Health and
Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson on Wednesday, asking
him to allow states to import low-cost prescription drugs
from Canada.
The letter came a day
after Thompson said that legalizing prescription drug imports
was inevitable and that he would advise President Bush not
to stand in the way of legislation making its way through
Congress that would clear the way for imports.
In the letter, the
attorneys general urge Thompson to "act immediately to help
provide our citizens with affordable prescription drugs while
ensuring drug safety."
The letter asks Thompson
to allow states to be appointed as licensed wholesalers or
allow them to contract with licensed wholesalers to import
prescription drugs from Canada.
"We believe that, with
the assistance of the Food and Drug Administration, the undersigned
states can work with the Canadian authorities to develop a
process for the safe importation of prescription drugs," the
attorneys general wrote.
The House last year
approved a bill authored by Rep. Bernard Sanders, a Vermont
independent, to legalize drug re-importation from industrialized
countries. The bill died in the Senate.
New momentum is building
in the Senate behind a bipartisan plan brokered by Sens. Edward
Kennedy, D-Mass., John McCain, R-Ariz., and Trent Lott, R-Miss.
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