Lawmakers Grill Thompson on Canada Drugs

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Lawmakers Grill Thompson on Canada Drugs

By Mark Sherman, the Associated Press

March 4, 2004

Lawmakers grilled Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson Thursday about his opposition to importing prescription drugs from Canada , an issue showing no signs of fading this election year.

Pointed questions from Democrats and Republicans on the House Appropriations health subcommittee focused on Thompson's decision to appoint Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Mark McClellan to lead a study of drug importation.

"When Mark McClellan is put in charge of this consideration, it's a stacked jury. He's been the most aggressive public name in stopping reimportation," said Rep. Anne Northup, R-Ky. President Bush has nominated McClellan to lead the federal agency that runs Medicare.

Thompson said McClellan's panel would reflect a range of views, and said its first public hearing would feature proponents of legalizing drug imports from Canada and elsewhere, where prescription drugs often are much cheaper.

Public opinion polls have shown broad public support. Nearly two-thirds of those surveyed in an AP poll released last week said the government should make it easier to buy cheaper drugs from Canada or other countries.

Supporters of legalized imports hoped to use last year's Medicare legislation to open the U.S. border to drugs from abroad.

Despite majorities in both houses of Congress on record in favor of imported prescription drugs, however, Republican congressional leaders and the Bush administration resisted adding the measure to the Medicare law that Bush signed in December.

The ban on imports remains unchanged: Thompson must certify the safety of imported drugs, and he, like his Democratic predecessor, has refused to do so. "I cannot certify that all drugs coming into America are safe," he said. "It's an undue burden on the secretary."

Several states and cities are making it easier for residents to obtain drugs from Canada , despite warnings from the FDA.

Thompson acknowledged that the issue would not disappear. "Everybody's upset and mad," he said. "I see it all over the country."

Meanwhile, Thompson said the media firm working for President Bush's re-election campaign has decided not to work on any future publicly funded advertising on behalf of the new Medicare law.

National Media Inc. purchased $9.5 million in air time for a 30-second ad that the government is running to explain the new prescription drug benefit for seniors. Critics have said the ad is tantamount to political advertising, and cited National Media's presence on the ad team as evidence.

The Bush administration is planning additional ads this year. National Media will not be a member of the group led by Ketchum Communications, HHS officials said.