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Alan F. Holmer, President of The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) represents the country’s leading research-based pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, which are devoted to inventing medicines that allow patients to live longer, healthier, and more productive lives. The industry invested more than $30 billion in 2001 in discovering and developing new medicines. PhRMA companies are leading the way in the search for new cures.

A personal message from Alan Holmer:

Americans today are more aware of and concerned about our nation’s security than ever before. At America’s pharmaceutical companies, our concern extends to working with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to ensure that the medicines we make are delivered safely to pharmacies, hospitals, health care clinics, and ultimately to our patients.

Fortunately, a consumer protection law passed by Congress in 1988 helps to protect Americans from adulterated drugs and counterfeit medicines and drugs that may have lost their potency during foreign handling and shipping. And yet, despite all the vigilance that the FDA, the Customs Service and the FBI exercise, unsafe drugs do cross our borders. Although very rare, patients have suffered serious consequences. That’s why we cannot let up on our vigilance now.

PhRMA is concerned about current efforts by some in Congress to repeal the 1988 law that has worked so well to keep adulterated, misbranded and counterfeit medicines out of the country. Supporters of this effort, who passed legislation in the Senate in July, say they want to change the law to allow “reimportation” of medicines from Canada in order to open the door to cheaper foreign drugs. Although it may sound politically appealing to amend current health and safety laws to allow for such reimportation of medicines, a reimportation scheme presents real risks to patients and no guarantees of cheaper drugs. In fact, studies have shown that U.S. consumers wouldn’t even see any significant savings from reimported medicines. FDA Deputy Commissioner Lester Crawford told Congress in July, “...it is likely that the intended cost-savings for consumers would be absorbed by fees charged by exporters, pharmacists…"

Americans likely won’t save money, but they certainly will bear the risk of medicines with unknown origins. According to Deputy Commissioner Crawford, “the [Senate] bill would actually create an incentive for unscrupulous individuals to find ways to sell unsafe or counterfeit drugs, that while purported to be from Canada, may actually originate in any part of the world.”

This fall, the attention turns to the House of Representatives, which may also consider a reimportation bill. For the sake of patients, Congress should reject this dangerous legislation. As Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson recently said: “Opening our borders to reimported drugs potentially could increase the flow of counterfeit drugs, cheap foreign copies of FDA-approved drugs, expired and contaminated drugs, and drugs stored under inappropriate and unsafe conditions. In light of the anthrax attacks of last fall, that’s a risk we simply cannot take.”

Supporters of reimportation in the House and Senate have a good cause in mind: to help Americans, especially seniors, gain better access to life-saving, life-enhancing medicines from Canada, which imposes price control on medicines. While the goal is good, a far better way to do this is to craft a prescription drug insurance benefit for America’s seniors and persons with disabilities. They have the greatest need for better access to medicines. Prescription drug coverage would do far more to make drugs more affordable than reimportation – and would do it safely. Reimportation schemes are a distraction from this important task, and a very risky one.

To listen to an interview with Alan F. Holmer, please go to the Professional Recruiters Web site.