Editorial: House vote on drugs is reasonable

Monday, July 28, 2003 | 8:44 a.m.

The U.S. House last week rebuffed the pharmaceutical industry in passing a bill that would allow people to receive by mail prescription drugs from Canada, the European Union and seven other nations. The bill is limited to only those drugs that have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration. The measure passed the House by a vote of 243-186, a margin that we interpret as an impressive victory for consumers considering that lobbyists for the pharmaceutical industry disgorge millions in Washington.

Drug makers fought hard against the bill on the grounds that it will endanger the drug supply in the United States. Their main point was that distributors in the select foreign countries are not as strictly regulated as they are in this country, meaning consumers could receive drugs that are diluted, totally worthless or even dangerous. But the majority of representatives dismissed this argument, saying the issue was not safety, but money. Prescription drugs in Canada, Europe and the other countries are far less expensive and there is no evidence that people there are the subject of wholesale fraud, proponents countered.

Congress has approved similar legislation in the past, albeit with the requirement that the secretary of the Health and Human Services Department certify the imported drugs as safe. Donna Shalala, who served as secretary under President Clinton, declined to issue such certification. Tommy Thompson, who serves as secretary under President Bush, is also declining to issue such certification. With consumers desperate for affordable drugs, which in some cases are lifesavers, this Congress decided to consider legislation that does not require the secretary's approval.

Reps. Jim Gibbons and Jon Porter, both R-Nev., opposed the bill. But Rep. Shelley Berkley, D-Nev., wisely voted in favor of the legislation. In our view, the pharmaceutical industry's argument against this bill rings hollow. Millions of people in Canada and Europe are using the same drugs that Americans would import, and we are not hearing of any difficulties there. When the same drugs here are four and five times more expensive, for no justifiable reason, it's only right that the foreign markets should be open.