White House, Congress agree on drug re-importation

In an exchange of letters on Monday, President Clinton, Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (R-Miss.) and House Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) agreed that legislation should be enacted this year allowing the reimportation of FDA-approved drugs, a move that would allow Americans to purchase FDA-approved products at the lower prices available in other countries. Lott, who has previously avoided taking a stance on the issue, and Hastert included reimportation in a list of issues they told Clinton the Republicans would like to resolve in the current congressional session.

Clinton wrote back to both Republicans expressing strong support for a Senate reimportation bill, which makes re-imports contingent on a finding by the Secretary of Health and Human Services that re-imported products are safe and would lower costs for Americans. He also said the bill must include $23 million for FDA enforcement and oversight to ensure that drugs shipped to the U.S. are safe and properly labeled. Clinton said he strongly opposes House legislation that would strip FDA's authority to regulate imported drugs. Clinton's letter added that "Though this initiative does not address seniors' most important need -- meaningful insurance to cover the costs of expensive medications -- it still has real potential to allow consumers to access prescription drug discounts." ...