WASHINGTON — Signaling growing support in Congress for allowing Americans to purchase less expensive prescription drugs from other countries, a bipartisan group of senators on Wednesday introduced legislation designed to do just that.
It was the second bill introduced in as many weeks to try to smooth the way for Americans to buy drugs from outside the United States. In addition, the chairman of the Senate's committee on health issues has committed to introducing his own version of the legislation soon.
The high price of prescription medicine has become a highly contested campaign issue this election year -- particularly among older Americans, who tend to vote in higher numbers than other age groups.
"We're now well beyond the question of the necessity to allow for safe, regulated drug importation," said Sen Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine), a sponsor of the new bill. "A drug can be safe and effective, but what good is it if you can't afford to take it? It is simply unconscionable that American consumers are subjected to price discrimination."
Nationwide, Americans angry about high prescription prices are purchasing drugs over the Internet from Canadian pharmacies or organizing drug-buying trips to Canada, where government controls mean that the cost can be 50% lower than at U.S. drugstores.
At least two U.S. cities have programs for their employees and retirees to buy imported drugs, and the state of Minnesota has set up a website so its residents can order from two Canadian pharmacies inspected by state regulators.
Senate sponsors and staffers predicted that the bill introduced Wednesday -- or some variation of it -- had broad enough support that it probably would come up for a vote this year, despite opposition by the Bush administration and Senate GOP leaders.
"Americans understand fairness, and they know it's wrong that Americans pay far too much for prescription drugs -- more than Canadians, more than the British, more than in any other country in the world," said Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.).
The bipartisan legislation would immediately permit individuals to import up to a 90-day supply of a prescription drug from Canada for personal use. It also would allow Americans traveling to Japan, Australia, New Zealand, Switzerland or any current member of the European Union to bring back a 90-day supply of medicine.
