Drug Importation Dies - Laissez-faire Market with Prescription Drugs
Unfortunately, this past summer the administration made a deal with PhRMA — the trade group of the pharmaceutical industry — that involved them offering $80 billion in savings voluntarily over the next decade (who wants to take bets on whether they hold up their side of the bargain?) and aired $150 million in ads in favor of the broader health care package in return for administration opposition to drug reimportation and using Medicare to negotiate for lower drug prices.
Dorgan knew about this saddening deal, but he’s not someone who’s going to be quieted by party leadership. He quietly assembled a bipartisan coalition of 30 senators to cosponsor his reimportation legislation, and even enlisted the help of former GOP presidential candidate John McCain to make a passionate case for his amendment this afternoon. Yet, in the end, it was voted down 48-51 — you read that right. See, that isn’t enough to break a filibuster, that would take 60 votes — isn’t it awesome that th