Bush Still Pushing Lies In Refusing to Lower Drug Prices (Daily Misleader)

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September 29, 2004 | Print Now
Bush Still Pushing Lies In Refusing to Lower Drug Prices


President Bush continues to oppose allowing American seniors to purchase lower-priced, FDA-approved medicines from Canada.1 His administration has claimed those prescription drugs would be unsafe, and is working to block a vote on bipartisan Senate legislation to make reimportation legal.2 But as a new drug industry whistleblower notes, the scare tactics are dishonest and untrue.

Dr. Peter Rost, vice-president of marketing for the pharmaceutical company Pfizer, recently came out and debunked the White House's argument, saying reimportation "has been proven to be safe in Europe" and that "The safety issue is a made-up story."3 Rost's comments are consistent with the Bush administration's own FDA officials who have been unable to provide any evidence that medicines from Canada are unsafe.4

President Bush's opposition to reimportation is backed by the drug industry - the same special interest that has donated lavishly to the GOP. According to the non-profit watchdog Public Campaign, the drug industry has given Republican candidates more than $36 million since 1999. President Bush has raked in more than $418,000 from the pharmaceutical industry, and lists many drug industry executives and lobbyists as his top fundraisers.5

Sources:
"Big Pharma fears a Kerry win will lead to curbs on drug prices," The Independent Portfolio, 9/22/04.
"Frist won't bring drug import legislation up for vote," The Tennessean, 9/16/04.
"Surprise Support For Drug Importing," Washington Post, 9/14/04.
"FDA lacks examples of Canadian drugs harming Americans," Knight Ridder, 11/26/03.
"Paybacks: Prescription Drugs," Public Campaign, 8/2004.

http://www.misleader.org/daily_mislead/Read.asp?fn=df09292004.html