Drug reimportation booms as U.S. safety task force is named

Proponents urge the federal government to seek ways to bring drugs safely into the country or to find another way to control costs.

By Joel B. Finkelstein, AMNews staff. March 15, 2004.

Washington -- The reimportation of U.S.-made prescription drugs continues to snowball, even though it remains illegal and the federal government is only now beginning to study whether it can be done safely.

Indicative of growing support in Congress, a reimportation provision in the recent Medicare reform package mandates that the Dept. of Health and Human Services deliver an official report on reimportation to Congress by Dec. 1. HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson recently announced the formation of a task force to produce the report.

"This task force will study what it would take in terms of oversight and resources to safely import drugs," he said. "It will hear from all sides of the issue in a public, transparent manner. I'm confident that it will produce a balanced picture of the costs and benefits of drug importation."

The task force needs to take a long, hard look at whether reimportation places Americans in potential jeopardy, said AMA Trustee Edward L. Langston, MD.

"We understand that seniors have financial issues," he said. "But we want to make sure they have a safe venue."

Some reimportation proponents question how balanced the report will be, considering that the panel is to be chaired by Mark McClellan, MD, PhD, an outspoken opponent of drug reimportation, who at press time, was FDA commissioner.

"To date, the Bush administration has kowtowed to the pharmaceutical industry all down the line, including on this issue," said Ron Pollack, executive director of the consumer group Families USA.