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Importing Prescription Drugs

By Pat Pending

There is a proposal before Congress to allow the importation of prescription medicines from other countries, and there has recently been a barrage of advertising in opposition to that proposal.  Some ads say that our health will be threatened by imported medicines, because they will not be as safe.  Others threaten that importation of abortion drugs will increase the number of abortions.  But none of the ads explain the real reason that drug companies do not want to allow importation of prescription drugs.

The reason drug companies oppose allowing prescription medicines to be imported into the U.S. is that they charge much more for their medicines in the U.S. than they do in other countries, and they do not want to lose the ability to divide the market and charge U.S. consumers more.  If the barriers that currently prevent importation of these medicines were removed, then U.S. consumers would be able to pay less for the same medicines.  Pharmacies and drug manufacturers would still be responsible for the quality of the products they sell, and prescription medicines would still require a doctor’s prescription in order to be dispensed, so the arguments against importation are weak, at best. 

Of course, it is important for drug companies to be able to earn a profit in order to continue funding very expensive research and testing of new medicines.  However, there is no reason that sick Americans should have to subsidize sick people from other countries by paying more for the same medicines.    The cost of research and development should be borne by all consumers of medicine – not just those in the U.S.

Canada currently puts a cap on the price it will pay for various medicines.  In order for the drug companies to be able to sell their medicines into Canada, they currently agree to sell their drugs at those lower prices, knowing that they will be able to continue selling at higher prices in the U.S. due to the legal restrictions on importing medicines.  However, if U.S. residents are able to purchase medicines imported from Canada, they will begin buying at these lower prices as well.  At that point, the drug companies will probably decide that they cannot afford to continue selling medicines into Canada at the lower prices, and Canada will have to decide whether it is willing to pay the market rate for medicines or whether it will do without them. 

It is perfectly reasonable for drug companies to continue enforcing their patent rights to prevent competitors from effectively stealing their expensive research and development, but opening the borders to importation of medicines would have little or no effect on the enforcement of patent rights.  What is unreasonable is for the patent owner to be able to divide the market by country, requiring residents of one country to pay higher prices than residents of another country for the same product.  The proposed new law, eliminating many restrictions to importation of medicines, would benefit U.S. consumers while also being fair to the drug manufacturers.  The drug companies’ beef should be with countries like Canada that put caps on drug prices, not on U.S. Representatives who vote to support freedom. 

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