US Senate rejects drug imports under health bill
* Consumer groups express dismay at lawmakers
* Senators aim to close gap in Medicare drug coverage (Adds consumer groups, Medicare, paragraphs 6-9, 11-17)
By Susan Heavey
WASHINGTON, Dec 15 (Reuters) - The U.S. Senate on Tuesday rejected two proposals to allow Americans to buy cheaper prescription medicines from other nations, preserving a deal between the White House and the pharmaceutical industry.
A bipartisan group of more than two dozen senators had sought to allow drug imports from Canada and other countries — where drugs often sell at a much lower cost than in the United States. But they saw their proposal, which needed 60 votes to pass in the 100-member Senate, fall short by a vote of 51-48.
“We shouldn’t be paying the highest prices in the world,” Democrat Byron Dorgan said before the vote on his proposal.