Public support fuels latest reimportation push in Congress

Bipartisan legislation includes drug chain-of-supply documentation and other anti-counterfeit measures.

By Joel B. Finkelstein, AMNews staff. Feb. 21, 2005.

Washington -- With a little push from every Tom, Dick and ... Homer, lawmakers have introduced new legislation that would require the Food and Drug Administration to implement measures enabling reimportation over agency officials' safety warnings.

A recent episode of the television cartoon "The Simpsons" reflects how deeply the issue has been absorbed into popular culture and the high level of public support. When the family's drug benefit is canceled due to the rising cost of health care coverage, Homer, father of the Simpson clan, travels to Canada for cheaper medications.

While the episode is a comical depiction of Americans, perhaps numbering in the millions, who travel across the border every year for low-cost prescription drugs, the portrayal of straightforward bargain-hunting is not far from the truth.

Public support is also reflected in recent opinion polls. For example, a Kaiser Family Foundation survey found that 73% of Americans think Congress should change the law to allow reimportation. Only 21% oppose such measures. Sixty-nine percent said legalizing the practice would make medicines more affordable without sacrificing safety.

"People are not that concerned about the safety issue," said Harvard University professor Robert Blendon, MD, PhD, who helped conduct the Kaiser survey. "At the moment, they feel comfortable with drugs from Canada."

As long as people see a familiar label on their Canadian drugs, they think the medications are the same as they would get from their corner pharmacy, said Marvin Shepherd, PhD, professor of pharmacy at the University of Texas.