Senate Blocks Affordable Prescription Drugs

How Many Senators Can Dance on the Head of the Big Money Party Pin?

Democratic Senator Ted Kennedy: Prince of the Big Money Party?

When people want to express total pointlessness, they sometimes say a thing is as silly as "arguing over how many angels could dance on the head of a pin." It is pointless to argue over the motivation of a group of Senators who will resort to new lows by using the recent food and drug scandals to yet again screw millions of American out of affordable prescription drugs

http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/08/washington/08drug.html

Big Pharma win. $$$$$$$$$$ As rising healthcare costs soar and the price of prescription drugs become prohibitive for most Americans, the Senate voted Monday to prevent the importation of affordable prescription drugs from Canada and other countries, citing a fear of “risk to consumers”, despite the fact that the FDA is cutting costs and corners while tainted foods and medicines continue to harm and kill consumers as they enter our food and drug supply chains. Health officials in both the Bush and Clinton administrations have repeatedly blocked such efforts to make drugs affordable, saying they cannot guarantee the safety of such drugs. Senators Byron L. Dorgan, Democrat of North Dakota, and Olympia J. Snowe, Republican of Maine, were the chief sponsors of the original proposal, which would allow imports with the goal to reduce consumer costs and increase trade, which, if executed properly, would be a win-win scenario.

Here’s an idea: Why not overhaul the FDA to include stringent safety measures and consumer accountability and regulate the pharmaceutical industry to REDUCE outrageously over inflated costs of prescriptions drugs?

Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, was a pivotal figure in negating Dorgan’s proposal to allow affordable, imported prescription drugs. Although he is the chief author of the bill overhauling the FDA, he encouraged others as well in the Senate to also vote “no” and stated that “he feared that it would sink the overall bill granting new powers to the food and drug agency.” ‘New Powers’? What would those be? If the Senate is so concerned about the health and safety of the consumer, let it prove itself by passing legislation that supports the consumer with an accountable FDA and affordable drug pricing. In the past, Mr. Kennedy has voted to allow drug imports, recognizing consumer’s inability to pay for the over priced drugs and he is a co-sponsor of a bill to do just that.

Consumer champion and smart trade? While Dorgan’s proposal would have allowed consumers, pharmacists, drug wholesalers and distributors to import prescription drugs from Canada, Japan, Australia and European countries found to have regulatory requirements comparable to those in the United States, the consumer once again has been delivered a blow by the bipartisan party of Big Money as demonstrated with this Big Pharma win.

-2Truthy