QDIS Blog

Well, it didn’t take long for the drug import issue to raise it head again. Seems Senator Grassley (R-Iowa) is pushing for an end to the ban on drug imports from other countries.

Grassley pushes to end drug import ban

While there may be support for this in the both houses of congress, I think it would definitely be vetoed. The question then becomes, are there enough votes to override a veto. I’m uncertain at this point but given how circumstances are unfolding it might be possible depending on the several factors. Interestingly, one of these is Iraq. Whoever thought Iraq would have an impact on drug imports?!

I think if enough Republicans distance themselves from the president first on the war and then on other issues, this may make it possible to pass such legislation and have enough support to override a certain veto.

I do want to say that I don’t think this sort of legislation is good but not for the usual reasons. I think this is treating a symptom and we really need to treat the underlying disease. There are far too many people in the US who do not have any healthcare or who pay a very high price for limited coverage.

I do want to say that I think the most commonly raised compliant of not being able to assure drug safety while certainly a concern, is not insurmountable. This issue could be dealt with if there were the will to do so. It is simply an easy argument to make and doesn’t require any effort. I think the more important concern is the response in other countries. For example, Canada has considered not allowing their pharmacies to sell into the US due to the possibilities of shortages within their own country. Indeed, some pharmaceutical companies have said that they will only sell limited amounts of drugs to Canadian pharmacies. If they choose to sell into the US and not to their own citizens, then that is there prerogative. However, the pharmaceutical companies were not going to increase the amount of drug sold to them.

Another problem is deciding which countries to allow importing and which not. I’m sure Canada will be on the list as well as many European countries. However, many countries should probably not be on the list and maybe even specifically excluded. There is also the problem of misleading websites purporting to be Canadian when they get the drugs from other countries that may be less than reputable.

On another note, not all drugs are cheaper from Canada. This is one of those myths that just won’t die. I talk to many people in my community and almost all believe that ALL drugs are cheaper in Canada. This isn’t the case, in particular with generics. many times, once a drug goes generic, the price drops dramatically and many times the generic from a US pharmacy is cheaper than the same generic from Canada. The FDA put out a white paper entitled Generic Drug Prices in the U.S. Are Lower Than Drug Prices in Canada which point this out.

I think it is interesting to see the reaction to this issue if you change the framing; should the US have the same price controls for drug prices that Canada and other countries do. Many people do not support price controls but do want cheap drugs from Canada?! From my perspective, it is basically the same thing. Why not just have the political will to call it what it is; price controls on drugs. THe reasons is hat moving forward that way would not be acceptable.

The big difference is that in many countries with socialized medicine, there is one buyer, the government. They set the price and as I’ve said before, until now the attitude of most big pharma and biotech is that okay, we’ll make up the difference in the US. That means the US is basically subsidizing development for the rest of the world.

This is an issue that will certainly be front page news this year but I think too many of the aspects of this issue are boiled down to sound bites and simplistic phrases rather than addressing the issue head-on and dealing with the various

Other Resources

Generic Competition and Drug Prices
CNN.com - FDA: U.S. generics better buy than Canada drugs - Jan. 19, 2004
Generic Drug Prices: A Canada US Comparison
GENERIC DRUGS: AN ALTERNATIVE TO DRUG RE-IMPORTATION
U.S. bill aims to import cheaper medications from Canada (CBC News; Canadian source)

Technorati Tags: drug imports, drug price

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