Health
Senate Committee Hearings Focus on Safety of Imported Drugs
Source: NBN/CP RadioWire
Feb 17, 2005, 13:30

Access to affordable healthcare is a major issue for most Americans and many are turning to imported drugs in hopes of saving money.  But at the heart of the debate, are concerns over the safety of imported drugs and what affects U.S. drug importation policy may have on the American healthcare system and the pharmaceutical industry.  In response to several drug importation bills that have been introduced in the past few weeks, Stephen Pollard, an expert on price controls and healthcare systems in Europe, will be testifying about the negative consequences of importation before the Senate Help Committee:

�The problem is that importation, if you actually break it down, is actually simply the adoption of foreign price controls by the �back door.�  And we�ve seen in Europe that price controls have recovered in terms of patient access to healthcare and it crippled the European pharmaceutical industry by driving away research and development.  I think only one thing should count and that�s the access that patients have to new and existing medicines, and all the evidence from Europe shows that if you introduce importation, you make a situation worse not better.�