Hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee - Examining the Implications of Drug Importation
Federal News Service July 14, 2004 Wednesday
HEADLINE: HEARING OF THE SENATE JUDICIARY COMMITTEE
SUBJECT: EXAMINING THE IMPLICATIONS OF DRUG IMPORTATION
CHAIRED BY: SENATOR ORRIN HATCH (R-UT)
WITNESSES PANEL I:
REPRESENTATIVE BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT);
SENATOR DON NICKLES (R-OK);
SENATOR BYRON DORGAN (D-ND);
SENATOR JOHN BREAUX (D-LA);
PANEL II: WILLIAM K. HUBBARD, ASSOCIATE COMMISSIONER FOR POLICY AND PLANNING, U.S. FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION; JOHN TAYLOR, III, ASSOCIATE COMMISSIONER FOR REGULATORY AFFAIRS, U.S. FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION;
ELIZABETH G. DURANT, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR OF TRADE COMPLIANCE AND FACILITATION, OFFICE OF FIELD OPERATIONS AT THE BUREAU OF CUSTOMS AND BORDER PROTECTION;
PANEL III: RUDOLPH W. GIULIANI, FORMER MAYOR OF NEW YORK CITY, CHAIRMAN AND CEO, GIULIANI PARTNERS LLC; CARMEN A. CATIZONE, M.S., RPH, DPH, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR/SECRETARY, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF BOARDS OF PHARMACY BOARDS; DR. ELIZABETH A. WENNAR, M.P.H., D.H.A., PRESIDENT AND CEO, UNITED HEALTH ALLIANCE OF BENNINGTON, VT., AND PRINCIPAL, HEALTHINOVA OF MANCHESTER, VT., UNITED HEALTH ALLIANCE;
JOANNA DISCH, PH.D., BOARD MEMBER, AARP; PROF. STEPHEN W. SCHONDELMEYER, PH.D., PROFESSOR OF PHARMACEUTICAL ECONOMICS, UNIVERSITY OF MINNESOTA COLLEGE OF PHARMACY; KATHLEEN JAEGER, PRESIDENT AND CEO, GENERIC PHARMACEUTICAL ASSOCIATION
BODY:
SEN. HATCH: Well, thank you, Senator.
I'd like to welcome our first panel of witnesses. First we have one of our colleagues from the House of Representatives, Congressman Bernie Sanders. We're happy to have you here.
REP. BERNIE SANDERS (I-VT): Thank you very much.
SEN. HATCH: Next we have-next to testify will be Senator Don Nickles, who has been a strong supporter for protecting the health of the general public and has raised some serious concerns about its imported drugs. Next we will have Senator Byron Dorgan, who is the sponsor of S. 2328, the Pharmaceutical Market Access and Drug Safety Act of 2004. And finally we have Senator John Breaux, who led efforts on the Senate floor to advocate for consumer safety and drug effectiveness. It's a diverse panel and we're happy to have you with us today.
And we'll begin with you, Representative Sanders.
REP. SANDERS: Senator Hatch, thank you very much for allowing me to say a few words. Senator Leahy, thank you for your strong efforts on this issue. Senator, it seems to me that we're dealing with two issues here this morning. Number one, at a time when millions and millions of Americans are unable to afford the prescription drugs they need to stay alive or keep them healthy, the key question is whether the American people will be forced to pay by far the highest prices in the world for the prescription drugs they need, or whether Congress will finally end that obscenity and allow Americans to pay world prices for the drugs that they need. That's issue number one.
And the second issue, equally important, is whether democracy will prevail on Capitol Hill or whether the pharmaceutical industry, which has spent hundreds and hundreds of millions of dollars in recent years with lobbyists, with advertisements, with huge amounts of campaign contributions, will be able to continue to force the American people to pay these outrageously high prices. Senator, this is not just about prescription drugs, it's about democracy. It's about whether senior citizens of the state of Vermont who live on $12,000 or $15,000 a year will get justice or whether big money will continue to prevail.
As Senator Leahy indicated, some five years ago I became the first member of the United States Congress to take constituents over the Canadian border. And we border on Canada, as you know. And I will never in my life forget that trip, Senator.
I had on the bus with me a number of women who were struggling with breast cancer. And many of these women took Tamoxifen, which, as you know, is a widely-prescribed breast cancer drug. But a lot of these folks just don't have a lot of money. And when they went to Montreal and were able to purchase Tamoxifen for one-tenth of the price that they were paying in the United States, when they were able to purchase a drug that was keeping them alive, they could not literally believe that reality. They were stunned.
And all over this country, people are asking, why is it that right across the Canadian border, in Europe, people are able to purchase the same exact medicine, manufactured by the same companies, produced in the same factories. Why are they able to purchase those medicines abroad for a fraction of the price that we pay in this country? But the truth is the evidence, I believe, is overwhelming that the safety issue, the so-called safety issue, is a bogus issue.
Senator, when we go out to lunch this afternoon, I'm going to have-and I'm happy to take you out to lunch this afternoon, and I will treat you to a salad.
SEN. HATCH: Oh, no. I have to eat a lot if I get lunch. (Laughs.)
REP. SANDERS: And we'll have some lettuce and tomatoes that probably come from Mexico or somewhere in Latin America, or maybe we'll have some grapes that come from Chile. Or we'll have some pork that comes from someplace. In the United States, we eat food that comes from all over the world, from farms and ranches, frankly, that we know very little about. And yet what we say is, that's not a problem. Or it's a problem that we can deal with because we have confidence in our government agencies to protect the safety of Americans. Health safety.
Now, if we can eat food from all over the world, how is it that the Food and Drug Administration cannot regulate a handful of pharmaceutical industries and track the medicine that goes abroad and comes back? And obviously the answer is that in the House bill, which by the way, as you know, passed overwhelmingly with bipartisan support, in the Dorgan bill, we have strong legislative language that makes sure that the FDA is watching and approving the medicine that comes back into this country. Now, people say, well, we have a potential safety problem here. And it is a problem, but it's a problem that I'm absolutely convinced the FDA and the United States government can address.
But, Senator, let's talk about another safety problem that doesn't get the discussion it needs. Let's talk about elderly senior citizens in Vermont, living on $12,000 a year or $14,000 a year who get sick and in some cases die because they can't afford the medicine that they need. How many thousands of people are needlessly suffering and in some cases dying because they can't acquire the medicines that their doctors prescribed. And I don't know if you have had the same experience that I have had, but I talked to physicians in Vermont and what they tell me is, why should I bother making out a prescription for a patient when that patient cannot fill that prescription? They don't have enough money to go to the drug store to buy it.
So let me just conclude by saying this. The pharmaceutical industry is the most powerful lobby in the United States of America. They lie very often. They set up phony organizations very often. They put out misleading campaign literature very, very often. They contribute huge amounts of money to members of the House and the Senate.
In Europe and all over the world, parallel trading has been going on for a very long time. It seems to me that the evidence is overwhelming, that we can stand up for the senior citizens of this country. We can stand up for the sick of this country. We can lower prescription drug costs by 25 to 50 percent by simply saying that for all those folks here who believe in free trade for every item in the world, why can't we have free trade for prescription drugs?
Senator Leahy was right. We have been talking about this issue year after year. The American people have made it clear in poll after poll. This is what they want. And the spotlight right now is on the United States Senate, where I understand the votes are there to pass strong re-importation legislation. Senator, let us stand up for the American people. Let's have the courage to take on the big money interest. Let's lower prescription drug costs by 25 to 50 percent and let's give the American people the help that they are crying out for. Thank you very much.
SEN. HATCH: Thank you, Representative Saunders.
BREAK IN TRANSCRIPT
SEN. HATCH: Thank you, Senator Nickles.
Senator Dorgan.
SEN. BYRON L. DORGAN (D-ND): Mr. Chairman, thank you very much. I'm wondering if we should close the loop and tell Congressman Sanders that you're not going to have lunch with him.
(Laughter.)
SEN. HATCH: Actually it sounded like a pretty interesting lunch. Salad, pork, just about everything.
REP. SANDERS: It's all on me.
SEN. HATCH: It's on. We'll do it someday, Bernie.