Written by: Jim Hansen
Wednesday, May 09, 2007

The cost of prescription drugs keeps going up. The Medicare bill that passed in 2003 ensured that the pharmaceutical companies' would be able to charge virtually what ever they can get away with. The huge profits are payback for the nearly $30 million in contributions the industry gave to federal candidates in 2002. People have been demanding major changes ever since, and one of the proposals on the table is to repeal the ban on importation of drugs from other countries.

Last week, Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota finally got the Senate to vote in favor of his amendment to allow US consumers, cities, states and businesses to purchase their pharmaceuticals from safety-certified pharmacies located in Canada, Japan, the U.K. and other nations. The amendment was attached to a bill that the Congress has to pass to fund (and partly reform) the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). (There is a good description at NewsTarget.com). Idaho's Senators split their vote on this one: Sen. Larry Craig voted with 61 of his colleages in favor of Dorgan Amendment but Sen. Mike Crapo voted against it. (vote #150) Thank you Tom Paine at 43rd State Blues for bringing it to my attention.

But that isn't the whole story. The lobbyists from the drug industry have not funneled millions in campaign contributions to congressional candidates to give up that easily. This week they got Sen. Thad Cochran of Mississippi to amend Sen. Dorgan's Amendment that effectively nullifies it by leaving it up to the discretion of the Bush Administration! The Senate passed his amendment 49-40 (with 11 absent). Craig and Crapo again split on this vote (vote #151).

NPR had a short story on it on Tuesday, but I still have not found a story in the Idaho press. The fact that Idaho's two senators took sharply different positions and that fact that one of them receives more money from the pharmaceutical companies ought to be a story. Hello out there...

I am confident that people in Idaho, like North Dakota, see no reason why they should not be able to buy their drugs (made by the same companies that sell in them in the US) from next door in Canada at a fraction of the cost. Congress is addicted to drug company money and even with the ban on soft money, drug company interests funneled nearly $20 million to federal candidates in the 2006 election.

FYI, the bill in that passed the US House on January 12 that would allow our government to negotiate directly with drugmakers for lower prescription drug prices for individuals using Medicare is still languishing in the Senate. Idaho's two US House members both voted against that bill, which passed 255-170 (vote #23).

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