Nick Smith, August 31, 2003

The American consumer is innovative. Forced to pay higher and higher prices for new medications, we look for other ways. Some corporations that have promised their retirees drug coverage as well as some senior groups suggest government should increase taxes on every one to pay part of the drug costs of seniors. Some suggest pushing generic drugs (patent rights having expired) where there is more competition among the pharmaceutical companies. There are many other possibilities to lower the higher price Americans pay. However, in the meantime millions of Americans are going to Canada to purchase their prescription drugs. Congress is now trying to decide whether government should make it totally legal and implement safety precautions.

There has been much scare-mongering regarding the exposure of loved ones to the dangers of counterfeit or watered-down drugs bought from foreign pharmacies. We have heard anecdotal tales of Americans who met with tragedy by using such drugs, but these tales are only testaments to the problems of the current system. The 1987 Prescription Drug Marketing Act actually made it illegal for anyone other than pharmaceutical companies to import prescription drugs into the United States. This leaves Americans to choose between paying expensive American prices or importing lower priced drugs without the protection of the federal government.

H.R. 2427, which passed with my support by a vote of 243-186, actually pulls the re-importation process out of this gray-market and into the watchful supervision of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). If signed into law, it will allow individuals and pharmacists to import drugs approved by the FDA and manufactured in FDA-approved facilities. Furthermore, it will require prescription drugs to be packaged with counterfeit-resistant technologies that will help importers and government officials track products from FDA inspected manufacturing plants all the way back to the American consumer. This bill actually introduces federal regulation and safety controls to an already booming trade. I was pleased that most members of the House stood up to the strong lobbying pressure of the pharmaceutical companies and passed this bill.

Americans are paying a higher price for drugs than most any other country in the world. Pharmaceutical companies suggest we are the richest country and they need the money for research. It is interesting that what they pay for television and other advertising is about what they spend on research.

We need to decide on long term solutions, but for the short term, we should allow a competitive market to work with a federal drug re-importation policy that actually protects American consumers and makes the re-importation of quality drugs at world market prices a safe and viable option.

Congressman Nick Smith represents Michigan's 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives.