[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 154 (Thursday, November 4, 1999)]
[House]
[Page H11487]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                           PRESCRIPTION DRUGS

  (Mr. GUTKNECHT asked and was given permission to address the House 
for 1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. GUTKNECHT. Mr. Speaker, I would like to read some excerpts from a 
letter from Mr. George Halvorson who heads up one of the largest health 
groups in the Twin Cities of the State of Minnesota. He took out an ad 
recently and the headline is, ``Who buys prescription drugs at ten 
cents on the dollar?''
  Let me read this, please, and this is a quote. ``The cost of 
prescription drugs varies to an amazing degree between countries. If 
you have a stomach ulcer and your doctor says you need to be on 
prilosec, you would probably pay about $99.95 for a 30-day supply in 
the Twin Cities. But if you were vacationing in Canada and decided to 
fill your prescription there, you would pay only $50.88. Or even 
better, if you were looking for a little warmer weather south of the 
border in Mexico, that same day 30-day supply would cost you only 
$17.50. That is for the same dose, made by the same manufacturer.

                              {time}  1030

  ``When the North American Free Trade Act (NAFTA) was passed by 
Congress to allow free trade between us and our neighboring countries, 
HealthPartners decided to follow the lead of Minnesota Senior 
Federation and buy our drugs in Canada'', but the FDA is standing 
between them. Today I am going to introduce legislation to respond to 
this problem.

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