The Drug Battle Illinois Ben Bradbury Ashwin Thomas Period 2

What’s the battle all about? In the midst of an American health care crisis, a senior couple from Illinois, Ray and Gaylee Andrews, both 74 years of age, sued the FDA and US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to permit the legalized import of cheaper prescription drugs from Canada in Their monthly drug bill was about $800, and this forced the two deathly-old people to work and even sell their own home! Buying drugs from Canada would save them as much as $350 a month.

What’s in the lawsuit? The Andrews’ lawsuit alleges that the current law violates: a)The Fifth Amendment’s Due Process Clause, which protects citizens’ privacy rights to make personal medical decisions b)The right to equal protection incorporated into the Fifth Amendment, by allowing selective enforcement of the law so that residents near Canada may cross the border and buy drugs, among other things c)Substantive due process rights under the Due Process Clause d)The Presentment Clause in Article 1, Section 7 e)The Vesting Clause in Article 1, section 1

What’s the battle all about? Drugs imported from Canada are much cheaper than their American counterparts because of institutions such as price controls and easier access. However, the import of prescription drugs from Canada is currently illegal. The Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act (MMA) gave power to the HHS secretary to approve imports of these cheaper drugs from Canada, but he still hasn’t acted on this power. It is unclear whether financial backing by pharmaceutical interest groups has anything to do with his inaction. This trend set by the US government, to allow medical corporations to take advantage of the American consumer, has been challenged by the Illinois governor and attorney general. The governor, Rod R. Blagojevich, has proposed a plan to the FDA which would allow Canadian imports of medicine, and also save the state millions of dollars in prescription drug costs. The king of the people!!

What have other states done? Americans pay the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs, so many different states have tried to ease the financial burden. The states of Minnesota and New Hampshire run web sites with information on purchasing lower- priced prescription drugs from Canada and links to online pharmacies, as this is legal in these states. In Massachusetts, a federal court judge allowed a suit which claims that pharmacy benefits managers take advantage of consumers by inflating the average wholesale price of drugs. A pharmaceutical –industry challenge to the use of “preferred drug” lists in Michigan was rejected by circuit judges.

Are Canadian drugs worse? George Bellas, one of the Andrewses’ lawyers, admitted that “It is hard to overcome the argument that the overriding purpose of the FDA is to protect the public health..[as]..the FDA is entrusted with the enforcement of the statutes…” However, we highly disagree. We believe, as many other experts, that Canadian drug regulations are just as strict as they are in America, and that people are just making unreal excuses by saying that “Canadian drugs are unsafe.” People need to realize that the drugs are from Canada, and not China.

Our Stance We believe that the American government is not doing its job by protecting the interests of pharmaceutical companies. They are not doing it with the spirit of free enterprise, but rather use monopolies, greed, and corruption to achieve their goals. Examples include the secretary of the HHS not using his given power to allow Canadian drugs, the inactivity of the FDA in response to the lawsuits, and the fact that health care costs remain unreasonably high years after the 2004 lawsuit. In our current government’s model of dual federalism, we believe the states have right to protect the people’s interests by supporting programs that would allow people cheaper medicine. Thus, we are taking a stricter interpretation of the Constitution, which is derived from the 10 th Amendment that states that powers that the Constitution does not delegate to the United States and does not prohibit the states from exercising, are "reserved to the States respectively, or to the people." Ashwin Ben

Bibliography "Canadian and American health care systems compared." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. 12 Nov 2007, 04:01 UTC. Wikimedia Foundation, Inc. 30 Nov Jablow, Valerie. "Consumers, states challenge federal ban on drug imports" The Free Library 01 June November Abc.com Chapelle’s Show, Ep. #201, Skit #2 Pictures from Google and Mira Costa Track website