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The State Dope On Drug Imports
by Chloe Albanesius
Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson predicted earlier this month that federal legislation to let U.S. consumers import prescription drugs from Canada is "inevitable," but state legislatures thus far have had little success moving related legislation.
Connecticut is one of the only states to successfully enact a bill on Canadian drug imports. The measure, S.B. 8, calls for the state's commissioner of social services to submit by Jan. 1 a report detailing the practicality of allowing members of ConnPACE, the state's prescription-drug assistance program, to get their medicines from Canada. But Commissioner Patricia Wilson-Coker has "not had an opportunity to begin this evaluation" since the governor signed the measure April 28, Coker-Wilson spokesman David Dearborn said.
In Virginia, meanwhile, a strong pro-pharmaceutical lobby that aided the demise of a similar bill, H.B. 190, may be more typical. The measure called upon the state to evaluate the feasibility of buying Canadian drugs for state employees, but it was rejected in committee Jan. 22. The Virginia Board of Pharmacy said Jan. 20 that it would oppose such bills that "regulate an illegal act," a reference to federal rules that currently prohibit medicinal imports.
And the Virginia Pharmacists Association in April joined forces with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a "Looks Can Be Deceiving" campaign against Canadian drug imports. The campaign "is a means to directly communicate with Virginia consumers about the potential risks to their health and the safety of our nation's drug supply," Thomas McGinnis, director of Pharmacy Affairs in the Office of Policy at FDA, said in a release. The campaign began in February in Illinois before expanding to Texas, California, Maryland and Virginia.
A Record Of Symbolic Wins, Defeats, Inaction
State legislators have scored some symbolic successes on the issue of drug imports. The Hawaii House, for example, passed a measure, H.C.R. 70, that calls upon the federal Health and Human Services Department (HHS) to certify pharmaceutical imports as legal, and both the state House and Senate eventually cleared a companion resolution, S.C.R. 27, in April.
Neither is binding, however, and other states have been unsuccessful on even that symbolic level. Similar measures failed in Arizona, California and Idaho.
A Florida bill, H.B. 1347, said the state would approve of imports only if federal authorities declared them legal. That route, however, is widely considered a diversionary tactic because HHS is unlikely to approve. And Louisiana challenged the increasing popularity of drug imports with legislation, H.B. 894, that would declare imports of Canadian drugs illegal.
In Vermont, the Senate on March 18 passed a bill, S. 288, calling on the Prevention, Assistance, Transition and Health Access Department to start providing residents with information on getting drugs from Canada, but the bill has not yet seen action in the House. Bills in California (A.B. 1957), Hawaii (H.B. 1921), Minnesota (H.F. 2293) and New York (A. 10009), meanwhile, are languishing in committee, while measures in Washington (H.B. 2469) and Wisconsin (A.B. 785) were effectively killed.
Cash-strapped states like California and Hawaii, meanwhile, looked north for drugs to be used at hospitals and prisons. The California bill was placed on the Appropriations Committee's "suspense file," where legislation is put on hold, and the Hawaii measure stalled in the Judiciary Committee on Feb. 20.
Another California bill, S.B. 1333, would authorize the Health Services Department to reimburse pharmacies that provide Canadian drugs to participants in Medi-Cal or the AIDS drug-assistance program. It was re-referred to the Appropriations Committee on May 13.
Governors Take The Debate To The Web
Officials in more than a half-dozen states this year introduced legislation calling for state-sponsored Web sites to give their residents information on cheaper drug options, including those in Canada. Legislative efforts were somewhat fruitless, however, so several governors eventually created sites themselves.
Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, for instance, first asked state legislators on Feb. 20 to support the bill introduced by Republican state Sen. Lorraine Serratti, but he created his own Web site five days later. The health committee rejected the bill March 31.
Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty, a Republican, launched a similar Web site, Minnesota Rx Connect, in January. It provides Minnesotans with a resource on how to find safe and affordable prescription drugs. On Thursday, the governor unveiled the second phase of his plan, the Advantage Health Plan. It would let state employees and their dependents purchase drugs from Canada via the state's Web site.
"For state employees, we're able to provide more than 45 prescription drugs at no cost to them," Pawlenty said in a release. "By enabling state employees to have their prescriptions filled by Canadian pharmacies, we have the potential for significant savings." The plan would cover 120,000 eligible Minnesota state employees and their dependents -- including the executive, legislative and judicial branches of state government.
Other states are considering bills calling for the immediate start of Canadian prescription-drug programs, and some of those measure are still pending. In New Hampshire, both the state Senate and House passed a bill, S.B. 434, that calls for the commissioner of the Administrative Services Department to start an importation program.
Gov. Craig Benson's office did not return calls by press time indicating whether his office has received the bill. Benson, however, has been vocal in his support of importing Canadian drugs. He recently issued a report on the safety of Canadian facilities and the drugs they produce and opened his own Web site on the issue.
And in Rhode Island, companion measures, H. 7320 and S. 2160, would allow the Health Department to certify licensed Canadian pharmacists to do business in the state until Dec. 31, 2007. Both the House and Senate have passed the bills and sent them to the other chamber.
Dovish On Drugs And More In The Hawkeye State
Iowa legislators addressed technology-related health issues more broadly this year, but there, too, inaction or defeat were the norm.
The House failed to act on a bill, H.S.B. 620, that would have regulated the sale or distribution of prescription drugs on the Internet or via e-mail. The chamber also never considered a measure, H.F. 2191, that would have created a repository program for cancer drugs.
A measure calling for federal funds to establish a drug-assistance clearinghouse for patient information found more support among Iowa lawmakers. Both the House and Senate passed the bill, H.F. 2554, but only to see it vetoed by Gov. Tom Vilsack on May 14.
In his veto message Vilsack wrote that the legislation fails to provide seniors with access to lower-cost prescription drugs, "risks diversion of resources away from the Senior Living Trust, and duplicates the outreach effort of the federal government already funded with taxpayer dollars."
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