Americans deserve affordable, safe prescription drugs
In 2017, U.S. Sen. Martin Heinrich supported legislation that would make it easier for Americans to buy inexpensive prescription drugs from Canada. The New Mexico Democrat touted the bill’s safety measures, pointing out it would:
Require foreign companies selling prescription drugs in the U.S. to register with the Food and Drug Administration.
Require patients to provide a valid prescription to the pharmacy they’re buying from.
Give the FDA authority to shut down “bad actors” proven to be fraudulent or unscrupulous.
And yet here we are, two years later, with insulin costing 353% more than it did in 2001. A 20-milliliter vial of longacting Humulin R that was $175.57 is now $1,487. A typical vial that will last a diabetic about 10 days costs about $300 in the United States, while in Canada it’s just $30.
So, yes, prescription drugs need to be safe. You need to be sure that what you get is what it says on the bottle. But if very few in the richest nation in the world can afford them, what’s the point?
And if Congress has proposed a way to get those more affordable drugs to Americans, with a clear and safe supply chain, what’s the hold up?
Getting Americans access to the same affordable medicines residents of other nations have should not be a partisan issue. It’s a life-or-death issue for too many. And so it is good news the Trump administration has picked up where Vermont Sen. and presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, who sponsored that 2017 legislation and was joined by 13 fellow Democrats, including Heinrich, left off.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar says the administration is considering amending an import ban on medications from Canada and he is looking for proposals from states, distributors and pharmacies to help achieve a goal of providing safe prescription drugs at lower prices to American patients. While the complex regulations setting up the system could take “weeks and months,” Azar is asking Congress to finally pass legislation and help ensure the policy change stands up in court. It should. This reform should be a lifelong prescription for both financial and medical relief for Americans taking daylong bus rides to buy prescriptions in Canada and/or those forced to ration vital — even lifesaving — prescription drugs.