June 17, 2004
Dear Senator:
The undersigned organizations have endorsed and previously written in support of S. 2328, the Dorgan-Snowe bi-partisan pharmaceutical importation bill. We strongly concur with a majority of the House of Representatives in calling on the Senate leadership to bring this legislation to the Senate floor for a vote before the 4 th of July recess.
We are pleased to see that Senator Judd Gregg, Chairman of the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee, supports drug importation and intends to markup his bill (S. 2493) on June 24 th. However, Chairman Gregg’s bill has a number of major problems that we believe will thwart the ability of seniors, employers, pharmacies, and insurers to gain access to safe, affordable imported prescription drugs. Instead, we urge you to support and co-sponsor S. 2328, the bipartisan importation bill.
Unlike the bipartisan Dorgan-Snowe bill, the Gregg bill:
- Fails to accommodate for attempts by the pharmaceutical companies to undermine importation by making minor, non-clinical changes to drugs sold in other countries. Thus, a drug company could alter the packaging or even just the color of a pill for sale in Canada, making those drugs technically not FDA-approved and therefore ineligible for importation. The bipartisan Dorgan-Snowe bill accommodates for such alterations so that affected drugs can still be imported.
- Does not prevent pharmaceutical companies from writing into their contracts with foreign pharmacies provisions that prevent those pharmacies from selling to customers in the United States. The bipartisan Dorgan-Snowe bill prohibits drug companies from using their contracts with foreign purchasers to hinder the free-trade of pharmaceuticals.
- Calls on the Department of Health and Human Services to prohibit the importation of drugs from certain countries, including Canada, if it finds that such drugs pose an “increased risk” to the public health. This seemingly innocuous provision is nearly identical to current law, which states that drugs can only be imported if HHS certifies that the practice will not pose an “additional risk” to the public health. HHS has used this overly-stringent provision to prohibit importation thus far, and the Gregg bill, in essence, continues to allow HHS to prohibit it.
These aspects of the Gregg bill pose the largest, but not the only, obstacles to the safe importation of prescription drugs. In fact, other parts of his bill actually limit the ability of the FDA to ensure the safety of imported drugs.
Patients, pharmacies, employers, and insurance companies have rightly clamored for relief from the high cost of prescription drugs. The Gregg bill, however, will not deliver for them. We strongly urge you to reject this flawed legislation and instead co-sponsor S. 2328, bipartisan legislation that will provide immediate, real relief to all Americans.
Sincerely,
AFL-CIO
AFSCME Retiree Program
Alliance for Retired Americans
American Federation of Teachers
American Public Health Association
Communications Workers of America
Families USA
Gray Panthers
IAM, International Association of Machinists and Aerospace Workers
International Brotherhood of Teamsters
International Union of Bricklayers and Allied Craftworkers
International Union, United Auto Workers
National Association of Professional Geriatric Managers
National Senior Citizens Law Center
Service Employees International Union
UNITE!
United Steelworkers of America