posted on CARE:


This article is from today's Capital Times, a newspaper out of
Madison, WI. Note: our governor's name is Doyle, and he's a
Democrat, believe it or not. (Wisconsin is a notoriously Republican
state.)

Images: Feds go out of their way to hurt Rx drug users
By Barbara Quirk
Special to The Capital Times
January 13, 2004
A car company can move its factories to Mexico and claim it's a free
market. A toy company can outsource to a Chinese subcontractor and
claim it's a free market.

A major bank can incorporate in Bermuda to avoid taxes and claim
it's a free market. We can buy HP printers made in Mexico. We can
buy shirts made in Bangladesh.

We can purchase almost anything we want from many different
countries, but heaven help the elderly who dare to buy their
prescription drugs from a Canadian or Mexican pharmacy. That's
called un-American!

And you think the pharmaceutical companies don't have a powerful
lobby? Think again!
(Please forward this to every person you know over age 50).
The message above came via e-mail recently and, if I had forwarded
it to everyone I know over 50, nothing else would have gotten done.
However, the irony in the e-mail is not lost.

Our federal government is actively obstructing Americans from
obtaining prescription drugs at reasonable prices from Canada,
instead of paying the exorbitant prices charged by the U.S.
pharmaceutical companies. Be reminded that we pay more for our
pharmaceuticals in this country than in any other country in the
world.

According to an Associated Press report, the Food and Drug
Administration may take legal action if cities or states defy its
ban on importing cheaper drugs from Canada. Commissioner Mark
McClellan said in an AP interview: "I'm definitely not ruling out
legal action if necessary to assure safety."

Gov. Jim Doyle's office was notified by the Canadian International
Pharmacy Association that they could no longer consider supplying
state and local governments with prescriptions because of rationing
and/or blacklisting threats by Pfizer, Eli Lilly, Glaxo Smith Kline,
Wyeth and Astra Zenneca. (The letter is posted on the governor's Web
site.) Talk about "Tender Loving Greed."

Doyle, who has expressed interest in reimporting safe, U.S.-approved
prescription drugs from Canada, gave a resolute response on national
radio networks Friday.

Doyle was strongly critical of prescription drug manufacturers for
threatening to create a drug shortage in Canada and "blacklist"
Canadian pharmacies that sell to state and local governments in the
United States. Doyle said the apparent collusion of these drug
manufacturers may violate federal antitrust laws, and he has called
on U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft to investigate.

According to a report from the governor's office, Doyle said:
"Canadian consumers can walk into their corner drugstore and buy
prescriptions for a fraction of what U.S. citizens pay here. The
drug companies know that, and they have proven they're willing to go
to just about any lengths to protect their inflated profits. They
are willing to choke off the drug supply to an entire country to
force American citizens to keep paying exorbitant prices. They've
gone too far, and it is time for the Bush administration to start
protecting our consumers."

Way to go, Governor.
Doyle noted that the Bush administration has obstructed every effort
by Wisconsin to re-import prescription drugs from Canada. According
to the same report, the day Doyle was scheduled to meet with
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty to discuss the topic, representatives of
the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services flew to Madison to
criticize rather than assist the state's effort to find lower-price
prescription drugs. At that event, a representative of Health and
Human Services said Congress has already given the department the
authority to allow medications to be imported from Canada, but the
Bush administration has refused to go along.

Montgomery, Ala., one of only two U.S. cities currently allowing
their employees and retirees to buy drugs from Canada, reports
saving up to $500,000 since it began about a year ago. That's
impressive.

One would think with medical costs and especially prescription drug
costs being prohibitive for so many, the federal government would be
scrambling to find ways to ease the financial burden for individuals
and local governments. It seems not to be so, and in fact there are
questions about whether states could lose their Medicaid funding if
they use federal money to illegally import drugs.

Rather than use common-sense solutions, it appears the federal
government is going out of its way to keep Americans insolvent in
their health care. That is a bitter pill to swallow. Where the hell
is the Lone Ranger when you need him?

Barbara Quirk is a geriatric nurse practitioner.
Published: 12:18 AM 1/12/04

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