WASHINGTON, April 14 /PRNewswire/ -- Dr. Rene Rodriguez, President of the Interamerican College of Physicians and Surgeons, today testified before the Department of Health and Human Services Task Force on Prescription Drug Importation:
"Those who favor importation have good intentions -- to lower costs and increase access to medicines -- but they propose to do so with an unacceptable and irresponsible trade off between price and safety. With foreign importation, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration would not be able to exercise the same safety controls over prescription drugs that it does now. The drugs may be real drugs, or they may be counterfeit. They may be effective in treating patients, or they may not. Even worse, they may actually be harmful. The truth is, we won't know which is which until someone has paid the ultimate price with his or her life.
"Doctors need to know that when they prescribe a drug for a patient, that they will be able to get real medicine that really does what it should. Right now, doctors have that confidence. If these misguided proposals become law, no doctor will be able have that confidence and the health and safety of millions of Americans will be compromised.
"I want to underscore the important role the U.S.-licensed doctors and pharmacists play in our current health care system. We know our patients, we know the medicines they are taking, and we can watch for problems of drug interaction or adverse reactions. As a doctor, I consider myself a partner with the pharmacist in the patient's medical care. It is irresponsible to trade comprehensive medical care for a FAX to Canada and a prayer that everything will be fine.
"The Inter-American College of Physicians and Surgeons plays an important role in minority communities. And I ask you to consider this issue from their point of view. Minority, low-income, and other traditionally underserved populations will likely get a disproportionate share of this bad medicine, as state Medicaid programs struggle to save money. It is those who have the least ability to pay who will be hurt the most by importation proposals. They will end up in a two-tiered system where people in the suburbs get safe, FDA- approved medicines and people in the barrios get medicines of unknown quality and origin.
"If prescription drug importation becomes law, this country will in effect be discriminating against minorities in one of the most pernicious ways imaginable -- their very health will be compromised. As a doctor, I say to all of the politicians who are pushing importation schemes, if you discard the safe system we have now, if you trade the safety of my patients for votes, you are acting shamefully and irresponsibly. And if you are already telling people to import their medicines, you are actively degrading the health of some of our most vulnerable citizens. I urge this panel and all who are involved to reject political expediency and to uphold the safety and integrity of our health care system."
For more information please call the Interamerican College of Physicians and Surgeons at 202-467-4756 or visit http://www.icps.org/.
Interamerican College of Physicians and SurgeonsCONTACT: Interamerican College of Physicians and Surgeons,+1-202-467-4756
Web site: http://www.icps.org/
