The passage of legislation that would allow the reimportation of prescription drugs is "inevitable," HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson said on Tuesday at a press conference for regional newspapers, the Los Angeles Times reports (Kemper, Los Angeles Times, 5/5). Thompson said, "I think Congress is going to pass" reimportation legislation (Sherman, AP/Minneapolis Star Tribune, 5/5). He added, "If it passes and the president signs it, we will implement it." Thompson said that he could not predict whether President Bush would sign a reimportation bill because "I don't know what shape it will be in," but he added that he would not advise the president to veto such legislation (Dodge, Dallas Morning News, 5/4). However, Thompson "downplayed the potential savings for U.S. consumers," the Los Angeles Times reports (Los Angeles Times, 5/5). "It will be expensive" to ensure the safety of reimported prescription drugs, Thompson said, adding, "You will have to have inspectors go into the manufacturing process. ... We will have to have some kind of investigatory force and some kind of additional inspectors" (Dallas Morning News, 5/4).
Reaction
Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) said, "Thompson is
right that the American people are demanding access to drugs at the same
fair prices available to Canadians and Europeans," adding, "But passage of
a real program will continue to be an uphill battle as long as Bush stands
with the pharmaceutical industry against American patients" (Los
Angeles Times, 5/5). According to the Boston Globe, the statements from Thompson
on Tuesday mark the "first indication that the pressure is beginning to
erode opposition" to reimportation in the Bush administration (Rowland,
Boston Globe, 5/5). However, Bill Pierce, a spokesperson for
HHS, said that Thompson was "merely reflecting the growing momentum" of
reimportation legislation in Congress and does not endorse the practice,
the Washington Post reports. "The
administration's position has not changed," he added (Connolly/Dewar,
Washington Post, 5/5). Pierce said that the administration
currently is focused on the Medicare prescription drug discount card
program, not reimportation, as a means to reduce medication costs for U.S.
residents. White House spokesperson Trent Duffy said, "The president's
focus is on making sure that seniors and all Americans have the safest
drugs available and have them made affordable as possible." Duffy also
cited FDA concerns about the safety of reimportation, adding, "It's one
thing if you get a Kool-Aid recipe wrong. It's another thing if you get
someone's prescription drugs wrong" (Los Angeles Times, 5/5).
Wanda Moebius, a spokesperson for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America,
said, "Two secretaries of health, including Secretary Thompson, have said
importation cannot be done without compromising patient safety and public
health. That's the current law of the land and we believe the right way to
go to protect patients from tainted, counterfeit, and unapproved drugs
that can sneak into the country" (Boston Globe, 5/5).
Reimportation Task Force To Hold Fifth Meeting
In related
news, the federal Task Force on Drug Importation will hold a fifth meeting
on Wednesday and will hear testimony from governors and mayors who support
reimportation, the Morning News reports (Dallas Morning
News, 5/4). The 13-member task force has held a series of meetings
as part of a study -- mandated by the new Medicare law -- on the safety of
reimportation and the effect of the practice on prescription drug
development. Task force members, who were appointed by Thompson, can
consult with other federal officials and will hold a total of six
"listening sessions" with consumer advocates, health care purchasers,
providers, health care industry representatives, international
stakeholders and the public. In the first meeting, consumer advocates
testified that the United States could establish a safe reimportation
system. In the second meeting, pharmaceutical company executives testified
that reimportation would reduce the incentive for companies to invest in
new medications and allow more counterfeit treatments to enter the United
States. In the third meeting, the public testified about the effects of
reimportation. In the fourth meeting, U.S. residents and Canadian pharmacy
groups testified that Canada could not support legalized reimportation and
that the practice has affected the Canadian health care system. The task
force must report the results of the study to Congress by Dec. 1, although
Thompson has said that he hopes to complete the study by mid-summer (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 4/28).