RetireSafe calls for the Senate to oppose the Dorgan Importation plan

Dec 5 2009

Opposes use of imported drugs often stored in tin cans and car trunks

Today, the senior advocacy group RetireSafe urged the Senate to defeat the Dorgan Importation plan encompassed in SA 2793. RetireSafe President Thair Phillips said, "Senator Dorgan's importation amendment is poised to open our borders, allowing our safe, closed drug system to be breached, and our health to be endangered. We could soon be getting drugs that were stored in tin containers and car trunks. This could literally be a 'killer' amendment, it puts all Americans and especially seniors at risk, and it should be soundly defeated."

Phillips went on, "It may be popular to import huge amounts of price-controlled foreign medications into the United States." But, he asked, "What about the growing epidemic of counterfeit medications plaguing the rest of the world?" Phillips continued, "What about the drug safety we expect and depend on? That will die the minute the Dorgan amendment becomes law."

"We strongly believe importation will allow large quantities of unsafe prescription drugs across our borders, and that the previous emergencies from imports will look minor indeed in comparison to the many deaths we'll suffer as a result," Phillips stated.

Phillips noted the growing body of research by prominent organizations showing the risks of drug importation. According to Phillips, The World Health Organization estimated that 10% of the drugs on the global market are counterfeit, while 25% to 50% of medicines consumed in developing countries are counterfeit. A United Nations body recently announced that the trafficking of prescription drugs is set to exceed illicit drug abuse, and warned of a 'potential flood of counterfeit medicines' on the global market. He added, "For the Senate to ignore this and pass the risky Dorgan importation scheme would be totally irresponsible."

RetireSafe is fighting for the elderly consumers the organization represents. Said Phillips, "They will be the most vulnerable to these insidious threats, and when they become ill or die as a result of fake medication, it will simply be written off as from 'natural causes.' And it's not just the fakes that concern us, it's also the medicine that has been poorly packaged, transported, or stored."

He warned that there is no way for seniors to know the perils they face with imported pills. He said, "Perhaps it is pills that are past the date for safe use, or mishandled medicine stored in tin containers and car trunks, that arrives diluted, or adulterated."

"RetireSafe urges the Senate to vote 'NO' on the dangerous Dorgan drug importation amendment," Phillips concluded.