AARP California State President Helen Russ today announced AARP's endorsement of the bipartisan U.S. Senate bill to legalize the safe importation of prescription drugs, beginning with Canada. 

"This bill represents another step in our efforts to rein in the high costs of prescription drugs," said Ms. Russ. "Our members and all older persons need relief from these out-of-control drug prices, and legalizing the safe importation of drugs from Canada and other countries will help to provide such relief." 

The bill, S. 2328, is sponsored by Senators Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME), and co-sponsored by California Senators Dianne Feinstein and Barbara Boxer. 

If enacted, the bill would allow consumers and pharmacies to legally purchase safe prescription drugs from abroad, beginning with Canada. The Dorgan-Snowe legislation contains critically important safety standards urged by AARP, including a system of registration, inspection, and tracking of imported drugs; anti-tampering and anti-counterfeiting technologies; and labeling of imported drugs. The legislation also requires that a website and a toll-free telephone number be established to assist consumers in locating reputable sites for the purchase of imported drugs. 

The legislation also provides measures to prevent pharmaceutical companies from limiting supplies of drugs in order to drive up costs. The bill meets the challenges of designing an importation program that protects the integrity of pharmaceuticals and provides a streamlined process that enables consumers to access lower cost drugs. 

"This is not a complete solution to the problem of high drug costs," said Ms. Russ, "but safe and legal importation will help put downward pressure on prices and thereby provide some immediate relief from high drug costs." 

Last year, AARP worked to pass the Medicare Modernization Act, which established a prescription drug benefit in Medicare. But more must still be done to control the cost of prescription drugs, and to make sure AARP members and their families have access to the drugs they need. 

As part of its campaign for drug affordability, AARP recently published the first AARP Rx Watchdog Report, which tracked the costs of prescription drugs commonly used by people 50 and older. The study showed that prescription drug prices in 2003 increased at nearly triple the rate of inflation. AARP intends to keep the spotlight on industry pricing practices. 

At a Capitol Hill press conference this morning, AARP CEO Bill Novelli said "It is a national embarrassment that citizens must purchase from other countries to afford prescription drugs. It is no longer a question of whether we should allow the importation of drugs from abroad. Importation is already happening on a large scale; we must ensure that there is a system in place for guaranteeing safety and cost savings."