Posted At Minot Daily News
By: Jill Schramm
WASHINGTON, D.C. With a hearing looming on his drug importation bill, U.S. Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., is scoffing at a new poll showing that 69 percent of American seniors oppose importing prescription medicine.
"It's just a sham," Dorgan said. "This, I think, is a pharmaceutical industry buying a pollster for the purpose of getting the answers they want."
Dorgan's bill is scheduled for a hearing Tuesday before the Senate's Health, Education and Labor Committee. He said supporters will be pushing for a Senate vote soon afterwards.
The Seniors Coalition, a group organized in 1989 as an alternative to AARP, released results of a poll this month that show most people favor importing drugs from Canada but draw the line at other countries.
Results of the poll included:
* 65 percent support allowing individuals, pharmacists and drug wholesalers to purchase drugs from Canada.
* 71 percent oppose allowing individuals, pharmacists and drug wholesalers to buy drugs from 20 other foreign countries, such as Slovakia, Greece, Portugal, Estonia and Latvia.
* 65 percent said importing drugs is somewhat to extremely dangerous, while another 11 percent said importation is only a little dangerous.
* 79 percent oppose allowing drugs to be given to patients without patient or doctor knowledge that the drugs are imported.
* 75 percent say the ability to opt out of receiving imported drugs is important.
"We all want more affordable drugs but the trade off is safety," said Mac Haddow, chairman of The Seniors Coalition policy advisory council. "We found the risk is too high and seniors are not willing to accept the risks of importation from foreign countries."
Dorgan said the bill that he is co-sponsoring allows the importation of drugs identical to those already on the U.S. market and approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Pharmacies and wholesalers can import more cheaply, which eventually would put downward pressure on drug prices overall in this country, he said.
Linda Wurtz, director of AARP in North Dakota, said AARP supports Dorgan's bill because of its safety provisions and bipartisan support.
Dorgan said the poll doesn't fairly represent seniors.
"The way these questions are asked, they beg the answer that they received. It's not a fair or truthful poll," he said.
The poll, conducted by Luntz Research Companies in Virginia, precedes some questions by telling respondents that Health Canada reported it can't guarantee safety of exported drugs and that Internet sites require buyers to relinquish their rights to legal protection.
Asking about the Senate legislation, the survey notes that imported drugs will be commingled into the U.S. drug supply without knowledge of patients and doctors and would not allow for labeling or opting out. It also states that the FDA has raised significant safety concerns before asking seniors if they support the bill. Only 22 percent did.
To make prescriptions more affordable, The Seniors Coalition opposes lengthy manufacturer patents that keep generics from getting to market. The coalition supports actions by Congress to give seniors better financial access to drugs, such as the Medicare drug benefit. The coalition also would like to see manufacturer rebates repealed, claiming they raise prices for consumers who don't share in the rebates.
