President-Elect Trump Urged: Act on Campaign Pledge to allow personal importation of safe, affordable medicines
Advocates say personal importation of prescription medicines is the only viable option to lower prescription drug price abuses by Pharma
In an open letter to the President-elect from Lee Graczyk, lead organizer of RxRights, and Daniel Hines, publisher of TodaysSeniorsNetwork, RxforAmericanHealth and the American Rx Bill of Rights blogs, cite his campaign pledge to support the importation of safe prescription medicines from other countries, and that the U.S. pharmaceutical industry has been instrumental in blocking legal importation even though untold numbers of Americans already safely rely upon personal importation which is subject to seizure and possible destruction, even of authentic medicines.
The letter is based upon a long-standing mantra of supporters that a medicine that is unaffordable is, in and of itself, unavailable, thereby leading to harm to the health and well-being the medicines are developed to prevent.
The letter notes that “ Virtually all medicines the FDA would deny access to are identical to those manufactured in FDA-approved facilities outside the U.S.—the only difference being the label, which reflects requirements of the medicine’s country of origin.”
The letter points out that hours of Congressional hearings about the pricing abuses of Pharma have had no impact on the costs of prescription medicines, all the while that an October Kaiser Health Tracking Poll1 found 74 percent of the American public believes high prescription drug prices are a priority issue.
“Personal importation is an immediate strategy to allow competition and access to safe affordable medications,” the letter says.
A copy of the letter follows:
An Open Letter to President-Elect Donald Trump:
December 2, 2016
Dear Mr. President-Elect:
The nation anxiously looks to you for leadership on the many challenges our country faces in the months and years ahead. One major challenge is access to affordable medicine.
Before the 2016 election, you made a number of statements regarding Americans' need for affordable prescription drugs. In particular:
• You noted the U.S. pharmaceutical industry has been instrumental in blocking importation legislation (even though untold numbers of Americans already rely on importation).
• You said you would support the importation of safe prescription drugs from other countries.
An October Kaiser Health Tracking Poll found 74 percent of the American public believes high prescription drug prices are a priority issue. Prescription drug prices in the U.S. are the highest in the world. Americans often pay twice as much or more than other countries.
Hours of Congressional hearings on outrageous prescription medicine prices have not yielded a speedy solution for citizens struggling to afford medicine. Personal importation is an immediate strategy to allow competition and access to safe affordable medications.
Consider these points:
• The Food and Drug Administration currently allows personal importation of prescription medicines if they are unavailable in this country or if they’re carried across the border in person by the patient.
• Virtually all medicines the FDA would deny access to are identical to those manufactured in FDA-approved facilities outside the U.S.—the only difference being the label, which reflects requirements of the medicine’s country of origin.
• PhRMA has a proven record of undue and troubling influence in healthcare policy.2
o The lobbying group met with the President of the United States in closed-door meetings to influence prescription policy related to the Affordable Care Act.
o PhRMA and its front groups influence the U.S. House of Representatives and the Senate through millions of dollars of campaign contributions.3
Your administration has the authority to address the public health crisis created by out of control drug prices. We urge you to act to explicitly legalize the personal importation of medicine from licensed registered pharmacies in (Tier One) countries whose standards of safety and efficacy meet or exceed those of the U.S.
Sincerely,
Lee J. Graczyk
Lead Organizer, RxRights
lee@rxrights.org
1-866-703-5442
Daniel Hines
Publisher , TodaysSeniorsNetwork
RxforAmericanHealth, AmericanRxBillofRights
636-399-2849
todaysseniorsnet@sbcglobal.net
Lee Graczyk
RxRights
1-866-703-5442
email us here
1 http://kff.org/health-costs/poll-finding/kaiser-health-tracking-poll-october-2016/
2 http://sunlightfoundation.com/blog/2010/02/12/the-legacy-of-billy-tauzin-the-white-house-phrma-deal/
3 https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/summary.php?cycle=2016&ind=H04