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Click here to read blog entry calling for
fine-tuning, changes in prescription
medicine importation legislation
Publisher
of leading seniors’ website, supporter of
importation of prescription medicines calls
for changes, fine-tuning to improve proposed
legislation
St. Louis, MO—The publisher of
www.TodaysSeniorsNetwork.com,
a leading informational website for
America’s aging population, caregivers, and
policy-makers, and a long-time supporter of
individual access for Americans to safe,
affordable medicines from Tier One
countries, has urged Congress to make
changes in S 525, (Dorgan-Snowe bill)
which aims to provide a framework for such
importation, to ensure that the proposed
legislation meets its goals.
The call for the changes is published on a
blog published by Hines in support of
personal importation of prescription
medicines,
http://RxforAmericanHealth.blogspot.com
Hines cites a “missed opportunity” by
sponsors of the legislation to integrate it
into the larger discussion on healthcare
reform that is now taking place.
“Prescription medicines have a vital role
to play in the health and well-being of
Americans, and imported medicines can have a
beneficial impact upon not only individual
health, but can also offer a significant
benefit to budgetary concerns,” Hines says.
“Unfortunately, as proposed, Dorgan-Snowe
actually could likely limit that role
because it fails to reflect the changes in
market conditions and operating models of
those Canadian pharmacies on which it places
its greatest hope of providing lower-priced
medicines while providing a major source of
funding to implant the legislation.”
Hines points out that when the push for
imported medicines was sparked nearly a
decade ago by a populist uprising of elderly
Americans who could no longer afford their
medications, there were approximately 140
Canadian pharmacies that provided mail-order
or Internet-based sales to U.S. citizens.
“Today, the Canadian International Pharmacy
Association has only 21 members,” Hines
says. “The sourcing of as much as 80
percent of the prescription medicines they
provide comes from pharmacies in Tier One
countries, whose standards and oversight
meet or actually exceed those of the U.S.
“Yet, for the first year following the
enactment of importation legislation, while
individual American purchases will be
allowed only from Canadian pharmacies, it
is our understanding that ‘transshipment’ of
medicines from these other countries will
not be allowed from any Canadian pharmacy
that chooses to operate under the provisions
of Dorgan-Snowe.
“But after one year, those same medicines
will be available to Americans via U.S.
pharmacies or wholesalers.
“Since the goal is to protect the health of
Americans and offer lower prescription
medicine pricing, the delay of a year to
utilize access to such pharmacies is
illogical, particularly in light of the fact
that numerous Americans are currently making
such purchases of safe, affordable medicines
supplied by those very same pharmacies,”
Hines says.
Other reasons for changes to the
legislation include potential ‘push-back’ by
Canadian policy-makers, many of whom have
feared that strict reliance on Canadian
mail-order or Internet-based pharmacies is
an attempt to make the country ‘America’s
Drug Store’; the need to help America’s
elderly burdened by increasing prices of
Part D medicines, premiums and the ‘Doughnut
Hole’ to utilize imported medicines; and,
the lack of hearings or increased public
support dealing with the language.
“The reason given for not considering input
of suggested changes that reflect current
conditions is that the legislation is
basically the same concept and language as
previous attempts to enact importation,”
Hines says.
Hines responds that very argument provides
a rationale for amendments and fine-tuning,
because while the bill at one time was
crucial to establishing a framework for
safety and efficacy of importation and
reassuring the American public that it could
confidently make such purchases, importation
is today a fact as untold numbers of U.S.
citizens have made individual purchases
knowing that they are receiving safe and
effective medicines.
“These are not mutually exclusive issues,”
Hines concludes. “The terrible irony is
that at a historic moment when there is an
administration and Congress in place that
supports the concept of individual
importation and the resulting benefits, the
proposed legislation could have unintended
results that actually limit the rights and
ability of U.S. citizens to enjoy the
benefits that revamped importation
legislation could provide.”
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