Monday, January 05, 2004

From the Aberdeen (SD) News:
Outgoing Mayor Still Eyes Affordable Drugs
He's getting a change of scenery and a new office, but Michael Albano plans to continue the crusade for cheaper prescription drugs he began as mayor of Springfield.

Albano hopes to capitalize on the recognition he gained over the past six months, when Springfield grabbed national headlines by becoming the first city in the country to buy cheaper prescription drugs from Canada for its employees.

He's already set up a new office just a few blocks from City Hall. His new business cards identify him as president of Michael Albano and Associates. And when his term officially expires at 10 a.m. Monday - when Charles Ryan is sworn in for the city's top job - Albano will launch a new career as a public affairs consultant.

From the Lowell (Mass) Sun:
Conrgressmen back drug imports from Canada
Two area congressmen will champion legislation next year to open the Canadian pharmaceutical market to U.S. consumers.

Representatives Marty Meehan, a Lowell Democrat, and John Tierney, a Salem Democrat, will co-sponsor a bill in the House of Representatives legalizing the reimportation of pharmaceuticals bought from regulated Canadian wholesalers.

From the Washington Times:
State-federal dispute looms on drug imports
More states and cities are pressuring the federal government to allow them to import prescription drugs from Canada, where the drugs are sold cheaper, and a state-federal feud is brewing.

Current law prohibits the practice unless the Food and Drug Administration can guarantee that the drugs coming into the country are safe, which neither the Clinton nor Bush administration has been able to do.

"Twice the conclusion was reached that we could not guarantee the safety ... so therefore [it] could not occur," said Bill Pierce, spokesman for the Department of Health and Human Services, which includes the FDA. "Nothing has changed since that time," he said, implying that the states and cities will not get their way.

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