Vitter Wins Drug Import Battle
by Bruce Alpert and Jonathan Tilove - Times-Picayune (excerpt)

Stubbornly pressing one of his trademark issues, Sen. David Vitter, R-La., won approval of an amendment to the Homeland Security Appropriations Bill last week that would allow Americans to legally import prescription drugs from Canada into the United States either in person or over the Internet. Vitter succeeded in gaining passage of a similar amendment in 2006, but the conference committee limited its application to people physically crossing the border and did not permit Internet sales. This new amendment must once again survive the House-Senate conference process. "This is a huge win for Americans concerned about lowering the cost of common, expensive prescription drugs and a major defeat for the big drug companies and their powerful lobbying interests," Vitter said. But Ken Johnson, vice president of PhRMA, the Pharmaceutical Research & Manufacturers of America, which opposes the measure, said, "Despite what anyone says, the FDA cannot and will not guarantee the safety of medications imported into the United States. If we're not smart about this, people are going to die and other people are going to be held accountable."