Fw: Illinois may buy Canadian drugs

[Guest guest]

Although I am not favorable to the massive use of big pharm

drugs, it is nice to see that there is a move to break up the federal

government price fixing.

 

Alobar

 

 

-

" Cackling Grackle " <cacklinggrackle >

Monday, September 15, 2003 8:28 AM

[cacklinggrackle] Illinois may buy Canadian drugs

 

 

>

> http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10735-2003Sep14.html

>

> Illinois May Buy Canadian Drugs

> Move Escalates Battle on Prices

>

> By Ceci Connolly

> Washington Post Staff Writer

> Monday, September 15, 2003; Page A01

>

> Facing budget-breaking increases in prescription drug bills, the

governor

> of Illinois took the first step yesterday toward purchasing

lower-cost

> medications from Canada, a move that puts him in direct conflict

with

> federal regulators and signals a dramatic escalation in the civil

war over

> U.S. drug prices.

>

> What began a decade ago with busloads of senior citizens trekking

across

> the border in search of cheaper medicines has mushroomed into a

nationwide

> rebellion. It has spread from small, nonprofit groups to the

private

> sector, and now, to local and state officials who are defiantly

ignoring

> warnings by the Bush administration and the pharmaceutical industry

that

> drug reimportation is dangerous and illegal.

>

> Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat, said he has directed the Illinois

> special advocate to draft a plan for buying inexpensive medications

in

> Canada for as many as 240,000 state employees and retirees. The

change

> could save the state tens of millions of dollars.

>

> " The status quo on prescription drugs is intolerable and

unacceptable, "

> Blagojevich said in an interview yesterday. This year, the state is

> spending $340 million on prescriptions for its workforce, a 15

percent

> increase over last year.

>

> " I am optimistic we will be able to save literally millions of

dollars for

> the taxpayers and set a precedent other states will follow, " the

governor

> said.

>

> Although Illinois would become the first state to pursue Canadian

drug

> purchases for its workers, Blagojevich joins a much larger trend.

Even as

> Congress debates whether formally to legalize the practice,

millions of

> Americans -- including horse breeders in New Jersey, a retirement

village

> in Ohio and the mayor of Springfield, Mass. -- already have decided

for

> themselves that the financial savings are too large to pass up.

Despite

> its claim that the practice is illegal, the FDA has generally

looked the

> other way.

>

> " There are a lot of bad drugs out there, " said FDA Senior Associate

> Commissioner William Hubbard. " We fear a program like [illinois's]

would

> put people at risk. "

>

> " In my opinion the pharmaceutical corporations and the lobbyists

have an

> absolute stranglehold on Washington, " said Springfield Mayor

Michael J.

> Albano. Since July, he has enrolled more than 800 city employees in

a

> voluntary program that covers maintenance medications bought from a

> Canadian wholesaler.

>

> Before launching the effort, Albano traveled to Canada to check out

CanaRx

> and then became the first client, ordering his son's insulin and

diabetes

> supplies from the company. To attract participants, the city waived

> co-payments on medications bought through the Internet service.

>

> The switch saved Albano $250 this year and the city $852 for his

family's

> medications. If a large percentage of the city's 9,000 workers and

> retirees join, the mayor estimates the city will save $4 million to

$9

> million a year.

>

> " This is a revenue stream for Springfield, the only revenue stream

we

> have, " Albano said, noting that budget cuts have forced him to

slash 323

> jobs. " I know people have concerns about foreign countries, but

we're

> talking about Canada here, not Iraq or North Korea or Iran. "

>

> Depending on the drug, the discounts in Canada can be as much as 80

> percent, savings that have proven especially irresistible to senior

> citizens who do not have prescription coverage under Medicare.

>

> " How pathetic can it be that the solution to the high cost of drugs

is to

> try to sneak them across the borders, " said Arthur Caplan, director

of the

> Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania. " Even our

> government doesn't believe the price of drugs the industry is

charging.

> The Veterans Administration and the Department of Defense don't pay

these

> prices. "

>

> One of the vagaries of the U.S. system is that senior citizens --

major

> prescription medication users -- often pay the highest prices

because they

> are not eligible for the bulk discounts government and private

insurance

> programs provide.

>

> To ease the strain, the industry distributed free medications to

5.5

> million patients last year, said Jeffrey L. Trewhitt, spokesman for

> Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America. He said that

what

> amounts to importing other countries' price controls not only

endangers

> patients but also jeopardizes future investment in research that

produces

> new drugs.

>

> Trewhitt cited FDA warnings that medicine bought from another

country may

> be counterfeited or tampered with, because it does not undergo the

same

> strict inspections. The agency has said it has little desire to

punish

> individual patients in need of lifesaving medicine.

>

> But with private analysts and the FDA estimating $750 million in

> prescription drug revenue now flowing to Canada -- and

entrepreneurs

> capitalizing on the trend -- the Bush administration is shifting to

a more

> aggressive stance in the legislative and legal arenas.

>

> " It's complicated and contentious and there's a lot at stake, " said

James

> N. Czaban, a food and drug lawyer at Heller Ehrman in Washington.

" It

> looks like we're heading to a multifront war in the courts and on

the

> Hill. I can easily see this becoming a very significant national

case

> because of the policy issues involved. "

>

> Late last week, the Justice Department asked an Oklahoma judge to

issue an

> immediate injunction against Rx Depot, a chain of 85 storefront

businesses

> that helps process drug orders in Canada. Justice lawyers, working

with

> the FDA, argue the company's role as a middleman makes it a de

facto

> pharmacy that endangers patients by selling " unapproved " products.

>

> " The fact that you have no drugs in the back room doesn't matter, "

Hubbard

> said. " We have been told by state pharmacy boards they are selling

> unapproved drugs. "

>

> In some instances, the unapproved drugs are products awaiting

licensing in

> the United States, though in many others the term " unapproved "

simply

> means the medicine was bought outside the country. However, many of

the

> medications sold legally in this country are manufactured overseas.

>

> Carl Moore, the Oklahoma oilman who founded Rx Depot, rejected the

notion

> he is acting as a pharmacist and said he is exercising his First

Amendment

> rights to provide information. " If you can find out how to build a

bomb on

> a Web site, I should be able to tell people drug prices off the

Web, " he

> said.

>

> Moore said his business is the logical extension of the

cross-border bus

> trips FDA has permitted for a decade: " We developed a concept for

people

> who live inland. "

>

> The FDA cannot discuss details of the case, Hubbard said. But he

> volunteered that an undercover agent who ordered two medications

through

> an Rx Depot in Oklahoma received a generic substitute for one that

has not

> yet been approved in the United States. The second medicine is an

> FDA-approved drug, manufactured in this country but " became an

unapproved

> drug once it came from Canada, " he said.

>

> The agency conducted a similar undercover investigation into

Springfield's

> program and asserts that Albano is allied with an unlicensed drug

> distributor. Albano counters the FDA " conducted a sting of the

wrong

> pharmacy. "

>

> Hubbard acknowledged that FDA's discretionary authority has

resulted in

> inconsistent enforcement. He said FDA hopes Congress and the courts

will

> bring clarity to the situation and some financial relief to

consumers --

> perhaps before the 2004 elections.

>

> " The answer is better coverage in this country and a good place to

start

> is for Congress to finally reach bipartisan agreement on a Medicare

drug

> benefit, " said Trewhitt.

>

> The House and Senate have approved 10-year, $400 billion drug

plans, but

> resolving differences between the two versions has proved

difficult. With

> final passage of legislation in doubt, Reps. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.)

and Gil

> Gutknecht (R-Minn.) are pressing the Senate to adopt their bill

legalizing

> drug imports from Canada and the European Union. Although it passed

the

> House overwhelmingly, the White House, the FDA and some powerful

senators

> are opposing it.

>

> In the meantime, a growing number of Americans have decided they

can't

> wait for Washington.

>

> Despite the legal uncertainties, the Standard Breeders Owners

Association

> in New Jersey signed up for a drug-purchasing plan with SUNRx,

which

> supplies medications from Canada, if the company offers the

cheapest

> price.

>

> " After I've seen some of the discounts and realizing how much is

added on

> to U.S. drugs, I absolutely believe this is the way we need to go, "

said

> Shay Cowan, the health care consultant at HRH of New Jersey Inc.

who

> signed the breeders up for the Canadian program. For the first time

in

> recent memory, Cowan said he has helped a client lower its drug

costs.

>

> " We are actually reversing the trend, " he said. " There is nobody in

the

> industry able to do that. "

>

> © 2003 The Washington Post Company

>