Americans would be allowed to carry into the United States small quantities of prescription drugs they buy in Canada under a tentative deal approved by congressional negotiators. A US Senate-House of Representatives panel is set to meet on Monday to sign off on the deal reached this week inserting the drug language into a domestic security spending bill, Reuters reported. The US pharmaceutical industry has staunchly opposed any loosening of bans against prescription drug imports, including from Canada, where medicines are often priced at up to 55 percent below American products. A much more significant ban on Internet mail-order imports, which have raised concerns about counterfeit drugs, would remain in place. “The language makes it clear the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) can't prevent people from driving into Canada” to bring back prescription drugs, said an aide to a Democratic senator. But the aide added this was a “very, very minor step” because the government had mostly been ignoring such imports. Several congressional aides said that under the deal, people could bring up to a three-month supply of FDA-approved drugs they buy in Canada. Controlled substances, such as barbiturates that can cause addiction, would not be included. Ken Johnson, senior vice president of PhRMA, which represents US drug manufacturers, said that Americans should instead find pharmaceutical cost-savings at home by participating in a new Medicare drug benefit or an industry-sponsored program for the uninsured. Republican leaders in Congress have opposed any weakening of the ban on imported drugs. But they lacked the votes to strike the language from the domestic security funding bill. Those same leaders desperately want the security money approved before lawmakers go home in October to campaign for re-election. Attempts to further weaken the import ban are likely next year in Congress. Sen. David Vitter, a Louisiana Republican, has blocked Senate confirmation of Andrew von Eschenbach as FDA commissioner until prescription drug imports are legalized. A spokesman for Vitter was not immediately available for comment.
