U.S. LAWMAKERS PUSHING DRUG IMPORTATION BILL

A bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers is pressuring Senate leadership to vote on legislation establishing a federal importation protocol, citing recent regulatory and legislative changes.

The FDA has been handed the responsibility to oversee importation, but it lacks the infrastructure or the funding to handle the task, sources said. Limited importation of prescription drugs from Canada first became law as President Bush signed legislation prohibiting federal officials from stopping individuals from personally transporting a 90-day supply across the Canadian border. Then, the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) decided not to block any packages containing prescription drugs from coming into the country.

Lawmakers, including Sens. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.), are using these developments to pressure Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist (R-Tenn.) to hold a vote on a long-standing importation bill. These events "will provide momentum to continue expanding Americans' access to cheaper Canadian prescription drugs," a Nelson staffer said.

The bill, S.334, would allow individuals to directly order medications from outside the U.S. when using an FDA-registered and approved Canadian pharmacy. The FDA would examine, register and inspect these facilities on a frequent basis. It would also allow U.S.-licensed pharmacists and wholesalers to import FDA-approved medications from a number of major industrialized nations and pass along the savings to their customers.