Peter Rost in the NYT
Peter Rost has an excellent Op-Ed in the NYT:
I have a confession to make. I am a drug company executive who believes we should legalize the reimportation of prescription drugs. I know that I have a different opinion from that of my employer on this matter, but to me, importation of drugs is about much more than money; it is about saving American lives.
According to a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation issued in 2000, 15 percent of uninsured children went without prescription medication in the previous year because of cost, 28 percent of uninsured adults went without prescription medication because of cost, and 87 percent of uninsured people with serious health problems reported trouble obtaining needed medication. We have 67 million Americans without insurance for drugs, according to the foundation. They pay cash – full price – and can’t always afford life-saving drugs. American drug prices are about 70 percent higher than in Canada and almost twice as high as in Europe…
Every day Americans die because they can’t afford life-saving drugs. Every day Americans die because Congress wants to protect the profits of giant drug corporations, half of the top 10 of which are French, British and Swiss conglomerates.
I have another confession to make. Americans are dying without the appropriate drugs because my industry and Congress are more concerned about protecting astronomical profits for conglomerates than they are about protecting the health of Americans.