Canadian Re

  • by: |
  • 07/08/2009

In all the tumult over healthcare reform, we haven’t heard that much about “drugs from Canada.”  There are clearly bigger fish to fry. And (not to go metaphor-crazy) those in the frying pan know just what I mean.

Witness PhRMA panjandrum Billy Tauzin, who, according to a report in today’s edition of the Wall Street Journal told a White House meeting Tuesday that “if the larger health-care bill passes, the cost savings will be big enough to make reimportation unnecessary.”

A White House official confirmed the meeting took place and said, "As a political matter there may be less pressure" to pursue reimportation after a health bill passes.

(Meanwhile, Bernie Sanders -- the Senator from Ben & Jerry's -- disagrees with "any move to drop the importation idea."  Yawn.) 

Two things.

First, it’s amazing that this issue is even being mentioned. Why? Because, according to the Congressional Budget Office, importing drugs would lower costs by less than 1% -- decimal dust when you compare it to the $80 billion “deal.” And that’s not even factoring in the significant safety questions.

Second, there is no such thing as “reimportation.” The various schemes under discussion (most recently Senator McCain’s amendment that got voted down in committee the other day) call for the importation of drugs from a variety of nations around the globe – including Canada.  This isn’t about getting “the same drugs” as our neighbors to the North.  The drugs that would be imported aren’t even legal for sale in Canada. The only reason to “pursue” is for pharma-bashing politics.

(It should also be noted that on-patent medicines represent about 8% of our national healthcare expense.  The rhetoric may be great for headline-seeking pols, but is trivial when it comes to lowering health care costs.)

There is no such thing as “reimportation” and no financial incentive for importation.  But the most important issue of all is safety. And that should be what stops this absurd notion from going even one step forward.

CMPI

Center for Medicine in the Public Interest is a nonprofit, non-partisan organization promoting innovative solutions that advance medical progress, reduce health disparities, extend life and make health care more affordable, preventive and patient-centered. CMPI also provides the public, policymakers and the media a reliable source of independent scientific analysis on issues ranging from personalized medicine, food and drug safety, health care reform and comparative effectiveness.

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