- CHICAGO (Reuters) - The U.S.
health secretary is not likely to grant Illinois or any other state permission
to import cheaper prescription drugs from Canada, a spokesman for the U.S.
health secretary said on Monday.
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- Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is asking the federal government
for a waiver that would let the state experiment with importing prescription
drugs from Canada. Under a new Medicare law, to get a waiver that would
allow a state to import drugs, the U.S. health secretary must certify their
safety.
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- The stance of U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary
Tommy Thompson --- that it is too risky to import prescriptions -- has
not changed, according to Bill Pierce, a spokesman for Thompson.
-
- "The secretary has said on the record, 'I cannot
guarantee the safety', and he sees no evidence has come to light where
he'd change that position," Pierce said of Thompson.
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- Blagojevich, a Democrat, hopes to put a dent in the state's
$340 million annual tab for prescriptions for employees and retirees.
-
- Illinois officials could not be reached for comment.
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- Importing cheaper prescriptions from abroad has become
a sore point between state and local officials and the federal government.
Behind the friction is double-digit health inflation devouring cash-strapped
state budgets.
-
- In November, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration threw
cold water on an Illinois report claiming it could save $90 million a year
with such an import plan.
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- FDA officials said buying the medicines abroad is risky
and that the savings likely are a third of the Illinois estimate.
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