Shalala Blocks Measure to Cut Drug Costs
W A S H I N G T O N, Dec. 26 -- A top U.S. health officialtoday declined to implement recent legislation allowingprescription drugs to be reimported from countries where theyare often cheaper, saying the program was flawed and posedpossible health risks.
“These flaws ... undermine the potential for cost savingsassociated with prescription drug reimportation and could poseunnecessary public health risks,” Health and Human ServicesSecretary Donna Shalala told President Clinton in a letterdated Dec. 26.
Clinton signed the legislation, which also providedbillions of dollars in disaster assistance to farmers, inOctober. The White House said at the time that the drug measurewas toothless and flawed.
U.S. consumers often pay 30 to 50 percent more forprescription medicines than consumers in other countries, inlarge part because the United States is the world’s only majornation without price controls on drugs.
Shalala said provisions in the bill allowed drugmanufacturers to deny U.S. importers legal access to the Foodand Drug Administration-approved labeling required forreimportation.
While the law prevented contracts explicitly prohibitingdrug importation, it did not prohibit drug manufacturers fromrequiring distributors to charge high prices, limiting supply,or otherwise discriminating against U.S. importers, she said.
Shalala also complained that the law only appropriated $23million for one year’s oversight of the five-year program.
“… I feel compelled to inform you that the flaws andloopholes contained in the reimportation provision make itimpossible for me to demonstrate that it is safe and costeffective,” she told Clinton.
With less than a month before the Clinton administration’sdeparture, Shalala urged Congress to clean up the reimportationlaw next year.
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