Drug reimportation supported if safety of patients is assured

Delegates continue to oppose direct consumer importation of drugs via the Internet.

By David Glendinning, AMNews staff. Dec. 27, 2004.

Atlanta -- Tackling the continued rise in drug costs could require bold actions from health policy-makers, but those changes must not be dangerous.

That was the message American Medical Association delegates expressed during this year's Interim Meeting, where for the first time the group offered its conditional support for prescription drug reimportation. The ability of pharmacies and wholesalers to buy U.S.-made drugs back from other nations is a promising way to lower prescription prices, provided the system meets rigorous safety requirements, the delegates said.

AMA leaders hailed the policy as a major sign of doctors' commitment to getting patients access to affordable care, but they echoed the caution in the adopted language.

"This clearly is an advocacy position for our patients," said AMA Trustee Edward L. Langston, MD. "We're trying above all to advocate patient safety and appropriate medications for them when prescribed."

An acceptable reimportation system is one in which a closed distribution chain allows the Food and Drug Administration to vouch for drugs' authenticity and safety at any point along the way, the delegates said. The practice of patients importing cheaper medications from Internet pharmacies doesn't fit this definition, and the Association will oppose it.

Congressional reimportation backers could get a boost from the AMA endorsement. But the same concerns prompting the group to temper its language have prevented federal officials from embracing the practice.