WHEREAS, Hawaii residents require timely access to safe, high quality, and efficacious prescription drugs that are not available in the United States at affordable prices; and

WHEREAS, the cost of prescription drugs has risen steadily in recent years, affecting consumers, businesses or employers, and public programs, while the pharmaceutical industry has been named as the most profitable among the Fortune 500 Companies in 2002; and

WHEREAS, Americans pay more for prescription drugs than in any other industrialized nation; in Canada, for example, a three-month supply of the best selling prescription drug Lipitor is thirty-seven per cent cheaper; Paxil is approximately fifty per cent cheaper; Vioxx is fifty-eight per cent cheaper; and the anti-psychotic drug Risperdal is eighty per cent cheaper; and

WHEREAS, in May 2003, Hawaii's Attorney General joined thirty-seven other attorneys general in a letter to Congress, seeking relief for consumers from the high cost of prescriptions and pointing out that the high cost of many brand name prescription drugs makes lifesaving medications out of reach for many individuals; and

WHEREAS, the federal Food and Drug Administration has refused to certify as safe for reimportation prescription medication from Canada and other foreign countries, which would allow United States citizens, state and county governments, and businesses access to prescription drugs at much lower prices; and

WHEREAS, to justify its refusal, the Food and Drug Administration contends that reimportation from other countries could jeopardize consumer safety because pharmaceuticals from other countries will not be subject to the same requirements imposed by the United States; and

WHEREAS, a number of governors and mayors already are taking steps to provide prescription drugs from Canada to state employees, retirees, and residents; and

WHEREAS, other states, such as Illinois, have expended significant time and resources in inspecting and ensuring the safety of pharmacies in Canada and Europe; Illinois has contracted with a pharmacy benefit manager for services, including the provision of certain prescription drugs from Canada, Ireland, and the United Kingdom, in a safe and affordable manner to participating citizens; and

WHEREAS, I-SaveRx is a prescription drug program implemented by Illinois in October 2004 and recently passed by the Vermont Legislature in 2005; and

WHEREAS, I-SaveRx allows all Illinois residents to refill prescriptions for the most common brand-name prescription drugs used to treat chronic illnesses from a network of inspected and approved pharmacies in Canada and the United Kingdom; the mail order pharmacy program is accessible through a web site and a 24-hour toll-free telephone number; and

WHEREAS, participants in I-SaveRx are expected to save from twenty-five to fifty per cent on the cost of medications; the program includes provisions to ensure the safety and quality of the prescriptions by requiring the inspection and approval of the pharmacies who participate; and

WHEREAS, in recent legislation, Congress authorized drug reimportation from Canada, giving United States Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson the authority to grant exceptions to allow states to purchase Canadian drugs for state employees and retirees; and

WHEREAS, it is likely, however, that the practice of reimportation will remain illegal; for example, Secretary Thompson quickly denied Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich's request for an exemption, declaring that he would waive federal regulations only if he could guarantee the safety of prescription drugs from Canada; and

WHEREAS, recent research indicates that Canada's drug approval system is as stringent as that of the United States and pharmacy practices in the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario were deemed equal to or superior to pharmacy practice in Illinois; and

WHEREAS, there is pending federal legislation that will enable the reimportation of prescription drugs from Canada and other industrialized countries that can meet regulatory requirements to ensure that consumers and government agencies have access to safe prescription drugs at reasonable costs; now, therefore,

BE IT RESOLVED by the House of Representatives of the Twenty-third Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2005, that members of Congress, including Hawaii's congressional delegation, are urged to establish as an immediate priority the passage of legislation that makes safe, affordable prescription drugs accessible to all United States residents through reimportation and other means, including requesting the cooperation of the United States Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Food and Drug Administration; and

BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the President of the United States, the President of the United States Senate, the Speaker of the United States House of Representatives, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration, and the members of Hawaii's delegation to the United States Congress.

Report Title:

Prescription Drugs; Reimportation