AARP on Sunday launched a $500,000 advertising campaign calling for Senate action on a bill that would permit consumers to buy U.S.-made prescription drugs from Canada and eventually from other countries, such as Australia, Japan and nations within the European Union, the AP/Des Moines Register reports. The ads will appear in newspapers and on radio in cities including Baltimore; Indianapolis; Anchorage, Alaska; and Des Moines, Iowa. According to David Certner, AARP legislative policy director, the campaign will focus on 14 states where senators have indicated support for reimportation. The legislation, sponsored by Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), currently has bipartisan support from 31 co-sponsors. The ads are intended to urge people to lobby their senators to co-sponsor the bill. Certner said U.S. residents are purchasing medications from abroad "right now regardless of the law," adding, "We want to make sure the system is as safe as we can make it." However, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America said AARP is endangering patients by pushing Congress to pass legislation that would allow potentially unsafe drugs to be reimported from other countries. Ken Johnson, senior vice president of PhRMA, said, "The FDA has repeatedly stressed that it cannot guarantee that imported medications from Canada are safe. And Canadian health officials have acknowledged the severity of the counterfeiting crisis within their borders" (AP/Des Moines Register, 9/18).

"Reprinted with permission from kaisernetwork. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery at kaisernetwork/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for kaisernetwork, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation . © 2005 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.