Congress Poised to Block Drug Reimportation Once Again

On Friday, October 28, 2005, the House is scheduled to vote on the Conference Report for H.R. 2744, the USDA and Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and Related Agencies spending bill for fiscal year 2006. The compromise bill drops language that had been included in the House version of the bill that would have prevented the FDA from blocking the reimportation of FDA approved prescription drugs from specified foreign countries. This is the second successive year that this proposed action has been passed by the House, but rejected by the Senate, and dropped from the FDA spending bill.

AAHF has supported giving Americans access to cheaper drugs and supported reigning in the authority of the FDA to control health care choice access. Despite this setback, included in the compromise bill are new tougher conflict of interest and public disclosure requirements for members serving on FDA advisory committees and panels as regards to relationships with pharmaceutical companies.

AAHF and other health freedom groups have long advocated for more transparency to end the undue influence of big pharma on FDA decision making. AAHF is pleased that some members of Congress have stepped up and forcefully addressed this long overdue issue. The compromise Conference Report is expected to pass the House, and the Senate, and be approved by the White House.