Vermont considering drug importation as way to save money

The Vermont Senate is considering a proposal to save money on prescription drugs by importing them from Canada, where many are sold for a fraction of the cost in the United States.

The cost of prescription drugs is a factor driving the increase in state health care costs and the state budget, said Democratic and Progressive Sen. Tim Ashe. He supports the proposal that was discussed Thursday during a meeting of the Senate Health and Welfare Committee.

Two main sections of the proposal include drug importation and authorizing the state to buy prescription drugs in bulk, including working with other states to create buying pools.

"We need to do something to bring down prices," Ashe said. "It is eating everyone's lunch."

Under the proposal, any imported drugs must meet all U.S. safety requirements. It draws on efforts from other states, Ashe said. In Utah, a drug importation proposal that failed last year is being expanded and will be introduced on the first day of that state's Legislature next week.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, a trade group for drugmakers, claimed in a statement that Vermont's proposal would allow sales from online Canadian pharmacies, which it said would threaten the health of Vermonters. But the proposed Vermont legislation does not mention online pharmacies.

"Patient safety must be our top priority, and our public policies should reinforce — not undermine — that commitment," the group said.

The concept of saving money on prescription drugs by importing them has been around for years. In 1999, Vermont's then-U.S. Rep. Bernie Sanders famously took busloads of people to Canada, where they met with doctors who then wrote them prescriptions for drugs that cost a fraction of what the same drugs would have cost them in the United States. Last year, Sanders, now an independent U.S. senator, introduced another proposal in Congress to allow for the importation of drugs from Canada.

In 2003, federal law was changed to allow the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services to authorize the importation of prescription drugs, but such permission has never been granted.

Many drugs are sold in Canada, some of which were manufactured in the United States, for a fraction of the cost of the same in the United States. A chart by the National Academy for State Health Policy distributed at the meeting included a number of examples, including the cost of a single popular arthritics drug, which costs $6.44 in the U.S. and 13 cents in Canada; a cholesterol drug that sells for $8.74 in the U.S. and 19 cents in Canada; or a respiratory inhaler that sells for $392.40 in the U.S. or $38.44 in Canada.

The lawmakers involved in the Vermont proposal recognize enacting it into law will be difficult, but they're committed to trying.

"There will be a lot of pushback on this," said Vermont's Democratic U.S. Rep. Peter Welch, who spoke to the committee by phone.