US Block On Generics "Costing $5 Million A day"

The delay in the availability of generic drugs caused by the US Congressional oversight in implementing legislation for the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade is costing US consumers $5 million a day, and without correction the loss will eventually reach $2.5 billion, says James Firman, president of the National Council on Aging.

Addressing a hearing of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Dr Firman said the loss to that date (February 27) resulting from the oversight had been $330 million. While this could not be recovered, correcting the GATT oversight could save consumers and taxpayers an average of $5 million every day to the end of the century. "The Medicaid savings alone would pay for basic health care services for more than 188,000 children," said Dr Firman, who is also chairman of the Generic Drug Equity Coalition.