October 18, 2000
From Eileen O'Connor
CNN Medical Correspondent
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Charlotte
Walton, 66, was one of dozens of seniors who used to travel by bus
to Canada to buy her prescription drugs at a fraction of the cost.
"There, I saved half the price of
what I would have paid here in the United States," Walton said.
A congressional amendment passed by
the Senate on Wednesday will allow Walton's local pharmacist to
re-import her prescriptions from Canada at the cheaper price the
Canadian government negotiates for its national health care
patients.
Walton says the bill will help many
seniors who are having trouble paying for their prescriptions.
"My husband worked five years past
his retirement to put a few bucks away so we could live
comfortably," she said, "but that isn't going to last long with the
price of drugs they have right now."
But the man who organized the bus
trips that helped Walton get cheaper medications, John Marvin of the
National Council of Senior Citizens, is skeptical the drug companies
will go along with the measure.
"I just don't think that they are
prepared to give up the profits that the American market
represents," he said.
Marvin said there are several ways
for drug companies to get around the bill.
"One way is to clearly limit the
amount of drugs going into Canada," Marvin said. "A second way is to
require FDA (Food and Drug Administration) inspections of all the
drugs being re-imported into this country, even though they are
being made in this country."
Republican lawmakers defended the
bill, saying they have closed as many loopholes as they possibly
can.
"The drug companies don't like this
bill, and the reason they don't like this bill is they think it's
going to be effective," said Sen. Slade Gorton of Washington.
But Clinton Administration
officials say the only way to guarantee seniors the relief they need
is to allow them to band together under Medicare to negotiate with
drug companies for the same kinds of discounts insurance companies
and the Canadian government have.
Charlotte Walton says she's never
understood why she and other seniors have paid so much more.
"It makes me angry, and I've heard
a lot comments on it that other people feel the same way," she said.
"Why can't we get it?" |
