Tuesday, September 26, 2006

Capitol Hill Watch

House, Senate Committees Pass Bill That Would Allow U.S. Residents To Purchase Prescription Drugs from Canada, Reject Provision That Would Allow Purchase of Medications from Mexico

      House and Senate negotiators on Monday unanimously approved the fiscal year 2007 Homeland Security appropriations bill, which includes a provision that would allow U.S. residents to purchase lower-cost prescription drugs from Canada, CongressDaily reports. The bill, which the full House and Senate likely will approve within days, would allow U.S. residents to transport personally as much as a 90-day supply of FDA-approved prescription drugs from Canada. The legislation would exclude controlled substances and some biological products. Negotiators rejected a proposal from House Republican leaders that would have required U.S. residents to obtain permission slips from their physicians to purchase prescription drugs from Canada. In addition, Senate negotiators refused to vote on an amendment proposed by Rep. Chet Edwards (D-Texas) that would have allowed U.S. residents to purchase prescription drugs from Mexico, after House negotiators had voted 9-8 to approve the proposal (Strohm, CongressDaily, 9/26).