Posted At The Times-Picayune
By: Bruce Alpert
WASHINGTON -- The debate over legislation that would allow cheaper drugs to be imported to the United States sparked a rare public clash between Republican lawmakers Tuesday.
Sen. Judd Gregg, R-N.H., accused Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, a co-sponsor of a leading drug-importation bill, of evading his questions about how it would affect long-standing U.S. drug-safety rules.
Gregg interrupted Snowe several times, admonishing her for "not answering my question" and suggesting that her bill is a political gesture rather than a serious response to high drug prices. The harshness of Gregg's questioning, during a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing, indicates the intensity of the issue.
Snowe and co-sponsor Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., said that Gregg was being misleading by suggesting that the legislation would allow importation of drugs not now legal in the United States. They said their bill would allow importation of only drugs already approved by the FDA.
The Capitol Hill fireworks erupted as the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association, led by former Louisiana Congressman Billy Tauzin, is launching its attack against the legislation. The association last week released a report questioning the safety of drug importation and is touting polls conducted by groups affiliated with the industry that say the effort is not as popular as many politicians think.
But Sen. David Vitter, R-La., who has introduced his own drug-importation bill, said the industry's assault is evidence that the importation movement is gaining momentum.
"I take this as a great compliment," Vitter said. "I think this is perhaps the clearest political proof that this has enormous momentum and is in the process of happening."
Tauzin, president and CEO of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association, noted the PhRMA-commissioned report by former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, which says the risk of importing drugs outweighs any potential benefits and could make the nation more vulnerable to terrorist attacks.
"We understand that some Americans are looking for cheaper drugs from abroad, but this report underscores the dangers of doing so," Tauzin said.
Tauzin also noted a poll by the Seniors Coalition, a group that gets some financing from the pharmaceutical industry, indicating that 77 percent of Louisiana seniors oppose reimportation when told that the drugs could come from 20 foreign countries.
Vitter called the poll "bogus," saying it asked questions designed to play on the fears of seniors and runs counter to virtually all objective polling on the issue. He also said that his legislation, along with the Dorgan-Snowe bill, includes safeguards to ensure that imported drugs are safe.
Many Americans already buy their drugs from Canada and have done so safely, Vitter said. Legalizing the process, he said, would set up the machinery, including Food and Drug Administration oversight, to make sure the imported drugs use the latest tamper-resistant technology and other safeguards against adulteration and misbranding of drugs.
Vitter made drug importation a major part of his Senate campaign platform last year.
"We have all heard the accounts of Americans who are forced to choose between their medication and necessities like food and rent," Vitter said. "We have all heard the accounts of senior citizens who cut their pills in half or who take their medication every other day instead of daily, because they cannot afford the costs of their prescription drugs."
