Senator John McCain’s Straight Talk Express may be heading straight for the drug industry’s door. McCain (R-Ariz.) is among those U.S. senators sponsoring a bill that could give pharmaceutical executives a need for their own heartburn and anxiety treatments. The bill is one of several efforts to make it legal to import cheap, brand-name medications from Canada. Unlike other such efforts, this bill may be able to get around many of the industry’s defenses. “The thing I’m worried about is the McCain bill,” says Richard Evans, a pharmaceutical analyst at Sanford C. Bernstein. “It knows all the tricks and outlaws them one by one.... This one’s pretty clever.” Wednesday morning, the bill could get another boost as the AARP--the organization formerly known as the American Association of Retired Persons--has scheduled a press conference to support it. McCain is expected to be on hand, along with Senators Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine). None of the senators responded to calls requesting comment.
