Urge U.S. Representatives to Vote Against
"Reimportation" Bill for Health and Safety of Americans!

07/23/2003

• The so-called "Reimportation" bill, the Pharmaceutical Market Access Act (HR 2427), which calls for reimportation of US-manufactured drugs from 26 countries, will be brought up in debate on the House Floor this week. Click here to review the bill.
• Please contact your U.S. Representative and House Leadership to urge them to vote no on HR 2427!

Unhealthy Health Policy in Congress
Now there is a bill in Congress that is hazardous to America's health. As part of the congressional debate on Medicare prescription drug legislation, some efforts are being made in the House to allow Americans to import drugs subject to the price controls of Canada and other foreign countries. The Pharmaceutical Market Access Act (HR 2427) has been introduced on June 11, 2003 in the House, which would open America's borders for reimportation of US-manufactured drugs from 26 countries. HR 2427 will be discussed in the House Floor this week. (Last month during the Medicare bill debate, the Senate passed an amendment in support of reimportation.)

Under HR 2427, individuals will be exempted from maintaining any records or reporting to the Department of Health and Human Services any information about the drugs they are bringing into this country, whether they are intended for personal or commercial use. And while the bill's sponsors like to argue that only FDA-approved drugs will be covered by the legislation, the FDA itself has said that drugs purchased from foreign countries generally "are not FDA-approved, do not meet FDA standards, and are not the same as the drugs purchased in the United States." Patients who ultimately take these drugs are putting themselves at risk.

The National Grange is particularly concerned that with no mechanism to track individual drug importers and no mechanism to track the individual drugs being imported, HR 2427 will create a massive loophole that known, as well as currently undiscovered, sexual predators can exploit. So, called "date rape" drugs such as Rohypnol, GHB, and Ketamine will become widely available through foreign suppliers to anyone who wants them for the purpose of procuring sex without someone's consent. By "anyone" this includes convicted rapists, pedophiles and child molesters. Especially vulnerable to this type of sexual exploitation will be children.

Summary of HR 2427

• Amends the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to direct the Secretary of Health and Human Services to promulgate regulations allowing qualifying individuals to import covered products (in addition to pharmacists and wholesalers, whom current law authorizes to import such products).
• Amends provision pertaining to record keeping regarding imported covered products. States that the Secretary shall not have to store records in cases in which qualifying individuals have imported a covered product.
• Amends provisions regarding the testing of imported covered products. Declares that specified tests, including ones involving authenticity and degradation of products, shall not be required unless the importer is a wholesaler. Requires such tests to be conducted by the importer unless a product is a prescription drug subject to the provisions of this Act pertaining to counterfeit-resistant packaging. (Currently either the importer or the manufacturer may conduct such tests).
• Eliminates the sunset date current law establishes for the provisions pertaining to the importation of covered products.
• Classifies prescription drugs as misbranded if they do not incorporate specified counterfeit -resistant technologies in packaging.

The National Grange has strongly supported a universal, affordable prescription drug benefit into Medicare coverage. However HR 2427 does not achieve this goal. HR 2427 is not about giving seniors and others access to less expensive prescription drugs. Instead HR 2427 is radical and dangerous legislation that will deregulate the retail pharmaceutical market in the United States. If enacted, this bill will endanger patient safety by increasing the risk of counterfeit, adulterated, contaminated or subpotent drugs entering our medicine chests. Furthermore it will create an unnecessary risk to general public safety by allowing any persons, including convicted rapists, pedophiles and sex offenders to freely import so called "date rape" drugs without any accountability for their actions. It is a band-aid policy that won't solve fundamental problems of access to prescription drugs and that will cause greater problems than it solves. Leroy Watson, Legislative Director of National Grange, has sent a letter urging U.S. Representatives to vote no on HR 2427. Click here to review the letter.

Action Plan --- Please contact your U.S. Representative and House Leadership immediately to urge them to VOTE NO ON HR 2427!

Contact information for U.S. House Representative

Sample Letter:

If you have any questions or comments please contact Legislative Research Analyst Chil-Sook Hwang by fax: 202-347-1091 or by phone: 1-888-4GRANGE, ext 109. Thank you for your grassroots participation in the National Grange Legislative program.

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