Rally presses for Senate drug vote
Members of both parties agree there are enough votes to pass the bill.
By JO-ANN MORIARTY
jo-onn.moriarty@newhouse.com
WASHINGTON - Former Springfield Mayor Michael J. Albano yesterday joined Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle's campaign to press the GOP leadership for a vote on legalizing importing prescription drugs into the United States.
Albano, Daschle and members of the AARP, the Alliance for Retired Americans and the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare ended their rally on the Capitol chanting: "We want a vote."
Daschle said Senate Leader Bin Frist, R-Tenn., isn't honoring a promise to bring a bipartisan prescription drug bill to the Senate floor before it recesses this fall. The House passed its version in July 2003.
"I just don't think by bringing this vote up to the floor ... without sufficient attention to safety first, that that is the right thing to do," Frist said this week on the Senate floor.
The Senate bill is sponsored by Sens. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and John McCain, R-Ariz. Members of both parties agree there are enough votes to pass the bill.
Albano, who was mayor of the first city to implement a drug importation program in July 2003; Peter Rost, a medical doctor and a vice president with the world's largest drug manufacturer, Pfizer; and Helen Clark, 78, a registered nurse and grandmother from Kennebunk, Maine, were invited to the rally to add their insights and experiences that contradict the Bush administration's claim that drug importation raises safety issues.
"This is the number one consumer issue in America today," Albano said.
He said that in the Springfield program - which allows municipal employees, their families and retirees to buy their prescription drugs through a network of approved pharmacists in Canada - has never produced a safety issue.
"Not one concern about safety," said Albano, who buys insulin for his son from Canada. "Let's dismiss that safety argument once and for all."
Albano, who now runs a consulting business out of Springfield, said Springfield has done well by Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, the ranking Democrat on the Senate health committee.
"But in this instance, Kerry and Kennedy can't help," Albano said, "because they are not in control of the leadership in the United States Senate. Think about it, a gentleman running for president of the United States and a senator with over 40 years (in the Senate) cannot help this citizen from Massachusetts."
"I am not here asking for anything that involves money," Albano said. "All I am here for is asking for a vote in the United States Senate."
Clarke, who introduced herself as a registered Republican, said her income is $15,000 annually. She takes nine medications for ailments head to toe, and her prescriptions cost $7,800 here and $5,000 in Canada. She said.
Consequently; she buys her medications from Canada. "I am not an outlaw," Clark said, adding that it doesn't make any sense "that I am not allowed to buy safe, high-quality medicines at a lower price."
"Together, we must demand that Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist end his obstruction," Clark said. "Frist, if you are listening, please don't protect the drug industry at the expense of access to medicine at fair prices."
Rost, who has marketed prescriptions for 20 years in Europe, still works for Pfizer. He told reporters that as an individual he supports the importation of drugs into the United State because the practice in Europe has proven to be safe, and drug prices are dramatically less.
Rost said that it is simply the ethical thing to do: drug manufacturers can make their products more affordable and still reap a healthy profit.
