Reducing the Cost of Prescription Drugs
In March 2009, Senator Dorgan introduced bipartisan legislation with Senators Olympia Snowe (R-ME), John McCain (R-AZ), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), and others to bring down the high cost of prescription drugs in this country.
The legislation, the "Pharmaceutical Market Access and Drug Safety Act," will bring consumers immediate relief and will ultimately force the pharmaceutical industry to lower drug prices in the United States.
The bill allows U.S.-licensed pharmacies and drug wholesalers to import FDA-approved medications from Canada, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and Japan and pass along the savings to their American customers. This approach will allow Americans to benefit from prices in these countries, which are 35 to 55 percent lower than in the U.S., while still enabling consumers to receive medications at their local pharmacy. The legislation would also allow individual consumers to purchase prescription drugs for their own personal use from safe, reliable, FDA-inspected Canadian pharmacies.
The Congressional Budget Office estimates the bill would save American consumers $50 billion over the next decade, including more than $10 billion in federal government savings. North Dakotans alone are expected to save more than $112 million.
The legislation does more than just make drug importation legal-it makes it safe. The bill includes a range of safety features intended to guarantee that only safe, FDA-approved prescription drugs are imported.
Dorgan and Snowe introduced bipartisan legislation that had over 30 Senate co-sponsors in the last session of Congress, including President Obama and Senator John McCain.
The legislation has strong bipartisan support and has been endorsed by a number of consumer organizations including the AARP.
