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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 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn