Bill to Ease Imports of Less Expensive Drugs Gains in House; Industry in Uproar

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> Bill to Ease Imports of Less Expensive Drugs Gains in House

> Tue Jul 22, 8:54 AM ET

>

> By SHERYL GAY STOLBERG and GARDINER HARRIS

>

<http://us.rd./dailynews/nyt/ts_nyt/byline/SIG=4fh49n/*http://www.n

ytimes.com>The

> New York Times

>

> WASHINGTON, July 21 A bill that would make it easier for Americans to

> import inexpensive prescription medicines from Canada and Europe is

> gathering support among some Republicans in the House of Representatives,

> prompting a furious effort by the pharmaceutical industry to defeat the

> legislation when it comes up for a vote later this week.

>

> The so-called " reimportation " bill, which would legalize the importation

of

> drugs already sold in the United States, does not have the support of

House

> Republican leaders. They are bringing it up for consideration as part of a

> deal they struck with a Missouri Republican, Representative Jo Ann

Emerson,

> to secure Mrs. Emerson's vote in favor of a broad Medicare prescription

> drug benefit, a measure that is a priority of the White House.

>

> Under the terms of that deal, the leaders promised not to fight the

> reimportation bill. Now, in a somewhat surprising turn, a number of

> Republicans say they intend to vote for it.

>

> In the past, many Republicans who tend to receive considerable financial

> support from drug makers have been inclined to accept the industry's

> arguments that imported drugs pose a safety risk and that higher prices in

> the United States are necessary so drug manufacturers can funnel the

> profits back into research and development.

>

> That sentiment appears to be changing. Lawmakers say they now recognize

> that many Americans are already buying medicines overseas, often through

> the mail or over the Internet, and that there have been few reports of

> people being hurt. They say they are also mindful that many voters are fed

> up with paying more than citizens in nations whose governments control

> prices. At the same time, as the federal government contemplates spending

> billions to provide the elderly with prescription drug coverage, even some

> Republicans say cheaper medicines would save the taxpayers money.

>

> " I just think politically, this is an unsustainable scenario, where the

> American consumer is shouldering the bulk of research and development

costs

> and corporate profits, " said Representative Dave Weldon, a Florida

> Republican and a doctor who has opposed the legislation in the past but

> said he would probably vote in favor of it this time. " The drug companies

> have to come to terms with this. "

>

> Even opponents of the measure say they understand their fellow

Republicans'

> frustration, a sentiment shared by many Democrats.

>

> " Obviously, people are distressed over the cost of drugs in this country,

> and I don't blame them, " said Representative Billy Tauzin, a Louisiana

> Republican who is chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee.

>

> But Mr. Tauzin, who is not bound by the leaders' agreement with Mrs.

> Emerson, said he was pressing lawmakers to vote against the measure,

> calling it " a disaster to the health and safety of Americans. "

>

> The reimportation issue is not new. Similar legislation passed Congress in

> 2000 and was signed into law by President Clinton

>

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> sites), and both the House and Senate included reimportation provisions

> when they passed Medicare prescription drug legislation last month.

>

> But each of those measures included what Mrs. Emerson calls a " poison

pill "

> a requirement that the secretary of health and human services

>

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> sites) certify that the imported drugs pose " no additional risk " to

> consumers. Both the Clinton and Bush administrations have refused to do

so,

> preventing the program from taking effect.

>

> As recently as Friday, the federal Food and Drug Administration

>

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> sites) sent a letter to Mr. Tauzin saying the agency had " serious public

> health concerns " about drugs imported from foreign sources, saying they

may

> be poorly packaged and stored and are of " unknown quality. "

>

> The bill the House will consider this week, whose lead sponsors are

> Representative Gil Gutknecht, Republican of Minnesota, and Mrs. Emerson,

> does not include the certification requirement, but would require the

> F.D.A. to create and institute a system to grant individuals, pharmacists

> and wholesalers in the United States access to F.D.A.-approved drugs from

> industrialized nations abroad. The House defeated a similar measure in

> 2001, but Mr. Tauzin said today that the outcome this time was too close

to

> call.

>

> If the bill passes, it will become the official House position in the

> Congressional negotiations to reconcile the differences in the House and

> Senate versions of the prescription drug benefit bill. That is one reason

> the industry is so nervous about it.

>

> " We're fighting it tooth and nail, " said Jeffrey Trewhitt, a spokesman for

> the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the industry

> trade group.

>

> The industry has sent armies of lobbyists to the Capitol to persuade

> lawmakers to oppose the measure and is helping to underwrite a nationwide

> radio advertising campaign.

>

> The industry trade group has also joined forces with abortion opponents,

> who recently sent fliers to voters saying the bill would allow Americans

> easy access to the abortion pill RU-486

>

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> sites). The fliers, based on a legal memorandum drafted by the trade

group,

> are sent specifically to conservatives who support the reimportation

> measure. One shows a baby and states that if the drug importation bill

> passes, abortion pills " may become as easy to get as aspirin. "

>

>

>

> But the the mailings, which are sent by the Traditional Values Coalition

>

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> sites), a California advocacy group led by the Rev. Louis Sheldon, have

> backfired, enraging some of the most conservative members of Congress,

> including Representatives Christopher Smith of New Jersey and Dan Burton

of

> Indiana, both longtime opponents of abortion who support the drug

> importation bill.

>

> " That is a bogus issue, " Mr. Burton said.

>

> Another industry-backed group, the Seniors Coalition, is running radio

> advertisements. Pfizer, one of the nation's largest drug companies, took

> out a full-page advertisement in Roll Call, a Capitol Hill newspaper, to

> publish a letter from its chief executive, Hank McKinnell, who says the

> proposal threatens the safety of the nation's drug supply.

>

> " The F.D.A. would no longer be able to make sure that medications are

> stored and shipped safely, " Mr. McKinnell wrote.

>

> Drug manufacturers are among the biggest contributors to political

> campaigns; during the 2002 election cycle, the industry gave nearly $27

> million to political candidates, three-quarters of it to Republicans. But

> one industry lobbyist said the manufacturers now worried that their

success

> in the marketplace had become a political liability in Congress.

>

> " There's this sense on the Hill that the industry is too rich for its own

> good, " the lobbyist said.

>

> For the industry, the financial stakes in the reimportation fight could

> hardly be greater. The Gutknecht bill estimates that widespread drug

> importation could reduce average drug prices in the United States by 35

> percent and drug spending by $635 million over 10 years. If passed, the

> bill could wreck the industry's carefully constructed worldwide pricing

> systems.

>

> Last year, average drug prices in the United States were 67 percent higher

> than those in Canada and about twice those of Italy and France, according

> to a report by the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board, a Canadian

health

> agency. The United States spends 1.6 percent of its gross domestic product

> on drugs, compared with 0.6 percent in Germany and 0.9 percent in Canada,

> according to the report. The drug industry now gets more than half of its

> worldwide revenues from American consumers.

>

> Industry executives argue that the proposed Medicare drug benefit will, on

> its own, help bring drug prices down. But some fear that the House and

> Senate Medicare negotiations will collapse, leaving the reimportation

> measure to gather steam.

>

> " There is no reason why anybody should believe that, under a Medicare drug

> benefit, providers would not get a similar level of discounts, " said

Daniel

> Vasella, chief executive of the Swiss pharmaceutical giant Novartis.

> " Importing from countries with a different drug review and approval

process

> and regulated prices undermines the foundation of the American economy. "

>

> Still, many lawmakers are angry at the drug manufacturers. Mrs. Emerson

> said she was moved to support reimportation by caring for her elderly

> mother-in-law, who spends as much as $1,200 a month on prescription

> medicines. Mr. Burton, the congressman from Indiana, frequently refers to

> his wife's experience taking tamoxifen, the breast cancer

>

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> sites) drug, which he says costs $360 a month in the United States,

> compared with $60 a month in Germany.

>

> " Every woman in America ought to be angry as hell at the pharmaceutical

> industry, " Mr. Burton said, " and you can quote me on that. "

>

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