Wednesday, May 26, 2004

From the Seattle Post Intelligencer:
Potomac Watch: Debate on prescription drug imports is how, not if
The debate over importation of cheap prescription drugs from other countries has shifted here from arguments about whether the practice should be done to how it should be done.

The House already has passed a bill to further legalize and regulate importation and several bills are working through the Senate. Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., has promised a floor vote on the issue this year. Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson has said government approval of importation is "inevitable" and even industry opponents concede defeat.

"We started sensing (a shift) beginning early this year," said Robert Falb, congressional affairs director for the Healthcare Distribution Management Association, the industry group for wholesale distributors of prescription drugs.

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