U.S. to Study Importing Canada Drugs but Choice of Leader Prompts Criticism

back

U.S. to Study Importing Canada Drugs but Choice of Leader Prompts Criticism

By Robert Pear, The New York Times

February 26, 2004

Hoping to mollify its critics, the Bush administration said Wednesday that it would conduct a yearlong study of how prescription drugs might be safely imported from Canada . But it then infuriated the critics by selecting Dr. Mark B. McClellan, the commissioner of food and drugs, to lead the study.

Dr. McClellan has adamantly opposed any relaxation of the rules barring drug imports. He says such imports would be unsafe, and his agency has threatened legal action against cities and states that help people import Canadian drugs.

The study is required under the new Medicare law, signed by President Bush on Dec. 8. But the administration announced it with fanfare, in an effort to deflect criticism of its policy on the issue, which threatens to delay Senate confirmation of Dr. McClellan for a new position as administrator of the Medicare program.

Tommy G. Thompson, the secretary of health and human services, said the panel studying the matter would be a "balanced commission," would hold hearings and would take testimony from governors and members of Congress on both sides of the issue.

But Senator Byron L. Dorgan, Democrat of North Dakota, said he was astounded that the administration would put Dr. McClellan in charge of the study.

"It's like putting the fox in charge of the chicken house," Mr. Dorgan said. "Dr. McClellan has clearly made up his mind not to allow importation and has done everything in his power to stop it."

A spokeswoman for Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican who like Mr. Dorgan has long been involved in the issue of drug imports from Canada , said he believed that the administration should have chosen "a more objective person."

"The senator is concerned because Dr. McClellan has already displayed a personal bias" against drug imports, said the spokeswoman, Andrea Jones.

Several states are searching for ways to help their residents gain access to brand-name medicines available at lower cost in Canada , where prices are regulated.

The State of Illinois said Wednesday that an Illinois couple would file suit this week, with encouragement from Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich, to overturn the federal ban on importing prescription drugs from Canada .

The class-action lawsuit will sharpen the confrontation between the federal government and the states.

Abby Ottenhoff, a spokeswoman for Mr. Blagojevich, a Democrat, said he had encouraged the couple to sue and helped them find a lawyer. The lawyer, Robert A. Clifford, said the plaintiffs, Ray and Gaylee Andrews, both 74, spent $800 to $1,000 a month on prescription drugs. The state is not a party to the suit but may file a legal brief supporting the plaintiffs, Ms. Ottenhoff said.

In Wisconsin , Gov. James E. Doyle, also a Democrat, announced Wednesday that the state had established a Web site pointing consumers to three Canadian pharmacies that, Mr. Doyle said, have been found to be reliable sources of safe medicines. Two of the pharmacies are already listed on a similar Web site established in January by Gov. Tim Pawlenty of Minnesota , a Republican.

The Bush administration criticized the Minnesota site this week. Peter J. Pitts, a spokesman for the Food and Drug Administration, said the state was "breaking both American and Canadian law." But the government did not explicitly threaten to shut down the site.

Governor Doyle said the Bush administration continued to "obstruct, criticize and undermine every effort to lower the price of prescription drugs, instead of working with states to make the process easier."

Administration officials said they had begun to worry that the dispute over drug imports could imperil the nomination of Dr. McClellan to be administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

Secretary Thompson said the Senate should swiftly approve the nomination so Dr. McClellan could help carry out the new Medicare law, which will offer drug coverage to 41 million elderly and disabled people.

In enacting the law, Congress instructed the administration to study whether drugs could be safely imported if the government hired additional inspectors, if all shipments were routed through specific ports and if the products carried tiny electronic tags so they could be traced through the supply chain.