US drug import safety plan faces safety hurdle

An adviser to US presidential candidate Senator John McCain (Republican, Arizona) has admitted that one of the major proposals supported by both major parties in the November 2008 election is affected by safety concerns. In an interview with the UK's Guardian newspaper, Gail Wilensky, who advises on health economic policy, said that authorizing drug imports from Canada, while popular, is difficult to implement in the face of growing concerns about the integrity of medicines produced outside the USA.

In particular, problems have been highlighted by the ongoing heparin blood-thinner fiasco (Marketletters passim). Whilst these concerned a product outsourced for a US manufacturer, Baxter International, which is a reputable company, the lack of Food and Drug Administration oversight over the quality of products made overseas, particularly in China has alarmed politicians.

Ms Wilensky said: "I won't say it can't be done, but it obviously is going to be a challenge." Previously, Sen McCain argued in his primary campaign that branded pharmaceutical firms are villains and supported imports from Canadian pharmacies as a measure to reduce US prices without resorting to direct prices controls. He has received considerably less campaign contributions from drugmakers than either the presumptive Democratic candidate, Sen Barack Obama (Michigan) or the latter's main rival, Sen Hillary Clinton (New York), who received the largest share of drug industry money, despite losing the primary race.