“This is a Penny-Wise, Pill-Foolish Plan,” Schatz says

(Washington, D.C.)—Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today criticized Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty for his efforts to provide Minnesota residents with prescription drugs from Canada.  Minnesota is the foremost among a handful of states to pursue imports as a method for lowering prescription drug costs.  Gov. Pawlenty will testify before a Senate commerce committee hearing on drug reimportation Thursday.        

“Gov. Pawlenty is so focused on short-term savings that he has virtually ignored the fact that reimportation would expose the state of Minnesota to enormous liability,” CAGW President Tom Schatz said.  “It only takes one tainted batch of pills to offset all the supposed savings of the governor’s program.”

Gov. Pawlenty plans to launch a state-run web site that will list Canadian pharmacies, provide order forms, and possibly negotiate prices for Minnesota residents.  The Canadian government has told the U.S. that it cannot ensure the safety or efficacy of drugs shipped to the United States, and the Food and Drug Administration does not have the authority or resources to do so.

“In the short run, obtaining medicines from across the border may have a positive impact on personal budgets and the budgets of cash-strapped states,” Schatz continued.  “Unfortunately, the long-term cost and health implications make today’s purported savings pale in comparison.” 

Pharmacists predict that expanding the cross-border drug industry will worsen pre-existing drug shortages in Canada.  Increased demand could also deepen the shortage of pharmacists in Canada, who can earn up to 75 percent more working for U.S. operations.  Drug companies have announced they will limit sales to Canada to prevent imports back into the U.S.  

“Price controls cause shortages; this is elementary economics,” Schatz continued.  “Importing Canadian drugs will mean importing the shortages that afflict Canada’s government-run health care system.”          

The Washington Post recently completed a five-part series documenting many of the hazards of purchasing prescriptions drugs in the pharmaceutical underworld.  The articles depicted terminally ill patients dying from watered-down drugs and doctors prescribing pain-killing medication to patients they’ve not evaluated.  Incidents of fraud, counterfeiting, and other illegal schemes are not uncommon.  Some internet drug dealers from outside Canada conceal their country of origin with Canadian domain names.  These concerns prompted Congress to remove a provision from the Medicare prescription drug bill that would have legalized drug reimportation.       

“The dangers of reimportation are a clear reminder that not all ideas to save taxpayers’ money are wise,” Schatz concluded.  “Rolling the dice with peoples’ health and safety is a penny-wise, pill-foolish approach to lowering prescription drug costs.”

Citizens Against Government Waste is the nation's largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.