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RxforAmericanHealth.com launches on-line petition in support of access
to personal importation of safe, affordable brand-name prescription medicines

St. Louis, MO, June 10, 2011—In response to a concerted effort by the Pharmaceutical  industry (Pharma) to protect its ability to continue to charge Americans the highest prices for prescription medicines in the world, www.RxforAmericanHealth.com  has launched a petition drive for members of Congress urging support of the right and need of Americans to purchase safe, affordable brand-name prescription medicines from licensed, registered pharmacies in Tier One Countries.

The petition may be viewed and signed at the www.RxforAmericanHealth.com web site, says Daniel Hines, Publisher of the TodaysSeniorsNetwork series of web sites dedicated to issues affecting an aging America, including support of the right of personal importation of prescription medicines dispensed from reputable  International pharmacies in Tier One Countries.

Tier One countries are those whose standards of oversight and efficacy of their pharmacies meet or exceed those of the U.S., Hines explains.

“For more than a decade, millions of Americans have purchased their medicines from reliable and safe sources from Tier One Countries,” Hines continues.  “Furthermore, the U.S. Congress has repeatedly passed legislation over the past decade supporting the concept of personal importation of these medicines as the only viable option available to lower the cost of prescription medicines in this country.

"Such initiatives have faltered in the face of extensive lobbying by Pharma as it uses its vast resources to deter final passage with such gimmicks as ‘poison pills’ amendments that would place unnecessary restrictions upon personal importation such as ‘certification’ in addition to the rules and laws of the country from which the prescription was dispensed, as well as adding a layer of ‘oversight’ included in the legislation that had been passed.”

Hines pointed out that Pharma has also funded a number of ‘front groups’ that have opposed personal importation of prescription medicines to protect the ability of Pharma to continue to charge Americans the highest prices for prescription medicines in the world.

Now, Pharma is instrumental in a new effort to restrict personal importation—the proposed Protect Intellectual Property act (Protect IP Act), in which the Obama Administration’s Justice Department would abdicate its responsibility to ‘enforce’ intellectual property rights to the private sector.

“This means that Pharma could not only initiate legal action against anyone it believes has ‘infringed’ upon its intellectual property rights, it could extend that action to websites that advertise personal importation or even supports the concept in free and open debate.

Additionally, it could have an immediate injunction against anyone it ‘believes’ has committed infringement in some form or another, and, in a what many believe is a denial of due process, would be able to do so free of any action against it should a suit be found to not have merit.”

Hines noted that legislation has been introduced in support of personal importation in the current Congress. 

“That’s why it is important that American Citizens act quickly to let their Congressmen and Senators know of their support of the right and need of personal importation of safe, affordable medicines.”

TodaysSeniorsNetwork includes www.TodaysSeniorsNetwork.com, www.RxforAmericanHealth.com, http://RxforAmericanHealth.blogspot.com, and www.BoomersNewsOnline.com.