Friday, April 23, 2004

From the Cincinnati Enquirer:
Pfizer restates opposition to Canadian drugs
Pfizer Inc. refused to budge Thursday from its opposition to Americans seeking cheaper prescription medicines from Canada - despite what Minnesota's governor calls a widening election-year "prairie fire" push to legalize the practice.

As about a dozen seniors protested the company's stance outside its annual meeting, Pfizer's chairman and chief executive Henry McKinnell said the "importation of medicines across America's borders poses a clear threat to patient safety."

From the Washington Post:
A Small Win for Proponents of Drug Importation
Religious groups, a Republican governor and elderly activists sporting name tags such as "Old Woman" descended on the annual meeting of pharmaceutical giant Pfizer Inc. on Thursday, opening a new front in the battle over U.S. drug prices and the push to make it legal for Americans to purchase cheaper medicines in Canada and elsewhere.

As expected, the eclectic coalition was unsuccessful in its attempt to limit Pfizer's price increases to the rate of inflation. But its leaders declared a symbolic victory in the broader struggle to legalize importation of prescription drugs, a fight that now stretches from courts to state capitols to Congress.

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