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By Herb Newborg

Drug Company Influence Kills Amendment to Reduce Drug Prices By Allowing Re-Importation
"Someone made a deal. It's a package that comes directly from the pharmaceutical industry to protect their interests." says Senator Dorgan

The Senate voted down a drug importation amendment to the healthcare reform bill Tuesday night in a complex procedural maneuver that highlights the stranglehold the pharmaceutical industry has on Congress.

The votes involved a proposal by Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), that would have allowed importation -- or often the re-importation -- of FDA-approved drugs that sell in other countries for a fraction of the prices American consumers pay.

Long popular with consumer groups, advocates for senior citizens and many Democrats (including President Barack Obama when he was a senator), the proposal is vehemently opposed by the pharmaceutical industry and many Republicans.

"What a bunch of rubbish," a disgusted Dorgan said on the floor earlier Tuesday. "Someone made a deal. It's a package that comes directly from the pharmaceutical industry to protect their interests."

Dorgan's amendment had been in the Senate hopper for a week -- consistently pushed back on the calendar by opposing forces. When it came up for a vote Tuesday evening, it was rejected in a bi-partisan vote of 51 to 48. Specifically, Dorgan's amendment would have allowed pharmacies and drug wholesalers to import FDA-approved drugs from Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and Japan. It would have also allowed individuals to purchase prescription drugs from FDA-inspected Canadian pharmacies.

"We missed the opportunity do something meaningful," Dorgan told reporters after his amendment was defeated.

Dorgan had said his amendment would save consumers nearly $20 billion by allowing them to buy drugs abroad, where they are generally much cheaper than in the United States. The cost of a prescription has increased 9% here in the last year alone, he asserted.

A second amendment, offered by Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.), was poised to act a so-called "poison pill," had Dorgan's amendment passed. Lautenberg copied Dorgan's language but added a few paragraphs setting up stringent requirements making importation of foreign drugs virtually impossible.

Lautenberg's amendment stated that his legislation would only be implemented if the secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) could guarantee that the amendment would "pose no additional risk to the public's health and safety and result in a significant reduction in the cost of covered products to the American consumer."

Interestingly, a 2004 amendment to the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act currently allows pharmacies and consumers to import FDA-approved drugs from Canada -- with similar approval from HHS.

The reason that everyone isn't getting their prescription drugs from our neighbor to the North is because that law has similar language. In the five years that have elapsed since the law's enactment, HHS has been an impenetrable barrier.

Lautenberg and Sen. Robert Menendez, a fellow Democrat from New Jersey, were vehemently opposed to the Dorgan bill, saying it would be too dangerous to allow U.S. patients to access foreign drugs. New Jersey is home to a number of drug companies, including Johnson & Johnson, Bristol-Meyers Squibb, and Abbott Laboratories.

The White House was also lined up against the deal. Months ago, the Obama administration made a deal with drug companies to minimize the industry's losses under reform to $80 billion over 10 years. In return, the drug industry pledged to back reform efforts. Dorgan's proposal wasn't part of the deal.

Lautenberg's amendment, which was scheduled moments after the Dorgan amendment vote, was viewed as a procedural move that allowed some members of Congress to subtly kill efforts to import less expensive drugs while managing to appear as if they actually support it.

"If you say you voted for the Lautenberg amendment and that you've done something about prescription drug costs, that's not the case," Dorgan said.

The American Association of Retired Persons, which supports import of foreign drugs, called the Lautenberg amendment "simply a thinly veiled effort to undermine importation and preserve the status quo of high drug prices."

"Tonight, senators had a choice between meaningful savings for their constituents and higher profits for the drug industry," Nancy LeaMond, the AARP's executive vice president, said in a statement. "We'll be letting our members know where they stood."

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who voted against the Dorgan amendment, said it was unnecessary because the healthcare reform bill will ultimately make drugs cheaper for seniors.

Meanwhile, Ken Johnson, executive vice president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), which won Tuesday's battle, said drug importation isn't necessary.