Obama Administration Drug Pricing Forum Should Address Urgently Needed Prescription Savings Realized Through Importation From Safe Canadian Pharmacies

WASHINGTON, DC--(Marketwired - Nov 20, 2015) - As Americans continue to pay the highest prices in the world for basic health maintenance medications, the Campaign for Personal Prescription Importation (CPPI) is encouraged that U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, Sylvia Burwell, is conducting a drug pricing forum on November 20.

CPPI applauds this effort to discuss how "...the high and growing cost of drugs has created hardship for families, employers, and states" as mentioned on the forum website. However, we are disappointed that the focus remains on specialty medications.

"Millions of Americans need access to safe, affordable health maintenance medications to treat high blood pressure and cholesterol, asthma, thyroid problems, depression, and other chronic ailments. They, too, need relief from excessive prices and ridiculous annual increases in the cost of their lifesaving medications," said Bryan Tackett, executive director of CPPI.

The high cost of medications continues to top the list of public priorities for Congress and the President, according to the recent Kaiser Health Tracking Poll. Sixty-three percent of Americans believe "government action to lower prescription drug prices" should be taken. 

This can easily be done by passing one of several bipartisan bills (e.g., S. 122/H.R. 2228 or S. 2023/H.R. 3513) in Congress that would allow Americans to import their basic prescriptions from safe, affordable sources in Canada. Over the last decade, 10 million Americans have safely imported their health maintenance prescriptions from licensed, legitimate Canadian pharmacies. The results: America's seniors, retirees, and low-income individuals can maintain their health without having to choose between their medications and eating or paying their bills.

CPPI submitted a comment for the record for the November 20 forum in the hope that HHS will consider the significant savings and positive safety and health impacts that allowing individuals to import health maintenance medications from Canada would have for all Americans and U.S. taxpayers.

About the Campaign for Personal Prescription Importation

The Campaign for Personal Prescription Importation (CPPI) is a national nonprofit consumer advocacy organization dedicated to protecting and promoting access to safe, affordable imported prescription medications from Canada for 90-day personal use. 

CPPI supporters and members represent low- and fixed-income Americans who urgently need an alternative to the exorbitantly high cost of prescriptions in the U.S., which causes millions of Americans to skip doses, split pills in half, take daily medications on an irregular basis, or avoid filling prescriptions entirely, jeopardizing their health. More information about CPPI can be found online at www.personalimportation.org.