Beasley, Allen, Crow, Methvin, Portis & Miles, P.C.

Recent scares of tainted medicines and goods from foreign countries, such as contaminated batches of heparin from China, have spurred presidential nominees Sen. Barak Obama and Sen. John McCain to review their support for individuals to import cheaper drugs from other countries, Reuters/Boston Globe reported today.

According to the report, aides for both candidates said that recent health scares had dampened their candidates’ enthusiasm of reimportation. Neither candidate has abandoned the prospect; however, they admit it has become a more controversial subject.

Other countries, such as Canada, have government price controls that keep prescription drug costs down, making reimportation of foreign drugs a far more attractive option, especially for those who spend hundreds and thousands of dollars on prescriptions each year. While several U.S. bills on reimportation have been proposed, none have become law, the report stated.

Organizations representing pharmaceutical companies such as the Generic Pharmaceutical Association (GPhA), oppose the practice, arguing that there is no guarantee drugs or goods from other countries would be safe, Reuters/Boston Globe reported.

Earlier this year, American deaths were linked to tainted heparin that was made in Baxter International Inc.’s facility in China. According to news report, FDA officials acknowledged they had not inspected that facility and claimed they had insufficient staff and financial resources to regularly inspect overseas manufacturers.

This entry was posted on Friday, September 19th, 2008 at 8:57 am and is filed under Heparin recall, News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.