[Congressional Record Volume 150, Number 47 (Tuesday, April 6, 2004)]
[Senate]
[Pages S3741-S3742]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                  REIMPORTATION OF PRESCRIPTION DRUGS

  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, I will make one additional point on 
another subject. Last week, I went to see the Secretary of Health and 
Human Services, Tommy Thompson, and made a presentation in support of a 
pilot project I want him to approve which would allow the reimportation 
of prescription drugs from Canada. My pilot project is very simple. It 
sets up a 2-year pilot project for North Dakota that would allow North 
Dakota pharmacists to access FDA-approved drugs from pharmacists in 
Canada.
  As you know, the administration has been fighting this notion of 
reimporting prescription drugs. The pharmaceutical industry is fighting 
it. The administration is fighting it.
  This is why it is important: In every case--the drug Lipitor, 
Prevacid, Zocor, Celebrex--it is the same drug put in the same bottle 
made by the same company sold in two countries, but the charges are 
much higher to the U.S. consumer. It is not just true with Canada; it 
is true for every country in the world because the U.S. consumer is 
charged the highest prices in the world for FDA-approved prescription 
drugs, and that is not fair.
  Let me ask consent to show two pill bottles on the floor of the 
Senate.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER (Mr. Enzi). Without objection, it is so 
ordered.
  Mr. DORGAN. These are bottles of a drug called Lipitor. This, I 
believe, is one of the fastest selling, most popular drugs in the 
United States. It is used for the lowering of cholesterol. By all 
accounts, it is a very successful drug and it sells rapidly and is 
prescribed often.
  As you can see, these two bottles of Lipitor are identical. These are 
both bottles that have 10 milligram tablets of Lipitor in them. They 
are made in the same plant. These are FDA-approved drugs made in an 
FDA-approved plant. The same pill is put in the same bottle made by the 
same company. There is one difference. This one is sold to Canadians at 
$1.01 per tablet. This one is sold to Americans at $1.81 per tablet. It 
is the same pill, the same bottle, same company, FDA approved, but 
nearly twice as much money is charged to the American consumer than the 
Canadian consumer.
  I could have used Germany as an example, Italy, England, France, 
Spain--almost anyone. I could have used almost any country and come up 
with nearly the same result.
  In Europe, they have something called parallel trading. If you are in 
Spain and want to buy a drug from Germany, there is no problem, you go 
through the parallel trading system. If you are in Italy and want to 
buy a drug from France, no problem, parallel trading. In this country 
we are told by FDA and others that there would be a huge safety problem 
if we purchased drugs from Canada--total nonsense. The Canadians have 
virtually the same chain of custody as we do. The Canadian drug supply 
is safe. Even our health authorities will admit that. So having 
licensed U.S. pharmacists acquire from licensed pharmacists or licensed 
distributors in Canada the identical drug and passing the savings along 
to the American consumer makes good sense and poses no--I repeat no--
safety issues for citizens of this country.
  I have asked the Secretary of Health and Human Services for a waiver 
to allow this pilot program to go forward. We will continue on the 
floor of the Senate to pass legislation. I believe we will soon pass 
legislation that deals with this issue, but, in the meantime, I am 
asking the Secretary of Health and Human Services to make a decision on 
this waiver request. He is now studying that. I assume it will be some 
weeks. But my hope is he will understand that the issue, which is a 
safety issue that they have described, simply does not, cannot, and 
will not exist with respect to this matter.
  The question is, Who is going to stand up for the American consumer? 
Will somebody stand up and say, on behalf of the American consumers, 
that what is happening here is not fair? I hope so.
  This proposal is called Prairie Prescriptions. It is a 2-year pilot 
project I put together. My hope is my State can be a pilot project that 
will demonstrate for everyone that the issue of safety in the 
reimportation of drugs with Canada, which has a nearly identical chain 
of custody, will always be a bogus issue. The issue is whether the 
American people will continue to pay the highest prices in the world 
for prescription drugs.

  Miracle drugs offer no miracle for those who cannot afford them. Our 
senior citizens of this country are 12 percent of America's population 
and they take one-third of the prescription drugs. They are often the 
people least able to afford these prices. Yet day after day, month 
after month in this country we have senior citizens going down to their 
grocery store, and finding out how much their prescription drugs are 
going to cost so they know how much they have left to buy their 
groceries.
  I notice my colleague Senator Harkin is waiting to speak. I am sure 
in Iowa, as we have in North Dakota, when you go to a meeting someplace 
you often have somebody 80 years old touch you on the elbow and say: 
Can you help me? You say: What is it? And the tears well up in their 
eyes and their chin begins to quiver and they say: I have heart disease 
and diabetes and I am supposed to take this medicine and I can't afford 
it. Can you help me?
  The fact is, we pay too much for prescription drugs. We pay the 
highest prices in the world, and it is just not fair.
  Obviously, my interest is at some point to force a repricing in this 
country, but in the absence of that, I believe reimportation is the way 
to let the market system even out these prices. I believe that can, 
should, and will be done without any safety issues whatsoever.
  I await anxiously the decision by the Secretary of Health and Human 
Services and the administration. The Prairie Prescriptions Pilot 
Project is a solid project, one that will benefit, in my judgment, the 
entire country by demonstrating once and for all this phony issue that 
has been raised by the former head of FDA, Dr. McClellan, and so many 
others. The issue of safety is just not an issue at all. The issue 
really is will the American people finally be treated fairly with 
respect to prescription drug pricing.
  I yield the floor.
  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, how much time is left?

[[Page S3742]]

  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Five minutes fifty seconds.
  Mr. HARKIN. I understand that the Senate will then resume 
consideration of the motion to proceed.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator is correct.
  Mr. HARKIN. Mr. President, I am going to ask unanimous consent, since 
I had 15 minutes--I am going to ask unanimous consent that I be allowed 
to speak for 5 minutes as in morning business and then the Senate would 
then interrupt my presentation to return to the motion to proceed and 
that I be recognized to finish my statement then.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection?
  Mr. DORGAN. Mr. President, might I ask--reserving the right to 
object, may I ask unanimous consent that the Senator from Iowa be given 
15 minutes in morning business?
  Mr. HARKIN. We will just go to the motion to proceed. That is fine.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Is there objection to the original request?
  Without objection, it is so ordered.
  Mr. HARKIN. Which one?
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Your request that you be allowed 5 minutes 
now, then we go to the bill, and then you be recognized to speak for an 
additional 10 minutes.
  Mr. HARKIN. I thank the Chair and I thank my colleague from North 
Dakota. We might as well go on with the motion to proceed. I can make 
my presentation then, too.

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