Drive to reimport drugs outpacing U.S. effort to study safety

Congress is pushing forward with legislation, while states continue to give citizens information on how to buy medication from Canada.

By Joel B. Finkelstein, AMNews staff. May 10, 2004.

Washington -- A federal task force is working to assess the safety and practicality of allowing individuals to import prescription drugs, but the public, state governments and Congress aren't waiting for recommendations.

Even as the task force, mandated by last year's Medicare reform bill, met for its fourth of six "listening sessions," more states and localities announced plans to implement reimportation proposals, yet another congressional reimportation measure was introduced and a coalition of seniors groups began lobbying drug companies to stop embargoing Canadian Internet pharmacies that export to the United States.

Rhode Island is only the most recent state to introduce a Web site offering residents information on ordering prescription drugs from Canadian Internet pharmacies. The state decided to link to the Web site created by Wisconsin for information on actual pharmacies. Minnesota and New Hampshire also have made similar information available to residents.

"Whether we like it or not, people are going to Canada," Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle told the task force. "They are going in bigger and bigger numbers because the simple dollars demand it, and it is the only option that many of them have."

Last month, two new Senate reimportation bills were introduced, and another one reportedly is on the way. The measures' proponents question the fairness of Americans having to pay more than Canadian or British patients when drugs from those and other countries are readily available.