Drug Purchases Outside US Made Legal : Maine First With Law

Maine? Taking a stand for common sense? WOW -  I like it, but then why not as some of the nut cases that have controlled the state have moved on - but what's more important is competition and free markets are coming into play, and that will surly solve the problem of over priced drugs, or for that matter, nearly anything else that the consumers want or need.

Maybe, just maybe, the 60's lunatics that infested our major governing bodies have started to be replaced by those that can see the insanity of socialism that radicals from that era brought to government.

Maine: Taking a Stand against Big Pharma
Source: Jennifer Levitz and Timothy Martin, "Maine to Allow Prescription-Drug Imports," Wall Street Journal, October 9, 2013.
October 15, 2013

The hunt for cheaper prescription drugs long has led consumers to reach beyond U.S. borders, but under a new Maine law, their search now will have the state's blessing, says the Wall Street Journal.
The law, the first of its kind, sanctions the direct purchase of mail-order drugs from some foreign pharmacies. It has ignited a court battle with the pharmaceutical industry and set the stage for a broader fight over access to less-costly medication.

• Drug makers argue in a lawsuit that the practice could expose residents to tainted or counterfeit medication and that it interferes with U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) oversight.
• Supporters say the industry is worried about a hit to its bottom line.
• Americans generally pay more for drugs than residents of countries where the government imposes pricing caps or negotiates prices with drug makers.
• The FDA prohibits importing medication by any means, but the agency rarely enforces the ban among consumers.

Americans have crossed the Canadian border for prescription drugs since the 1950s and would have stopped if the drugs were unsafe, says Tim Smith, a general manager at the Canadian International Pharmacy Association, which represents drugstores that ship to Americans.
"If Maine can do this, other states will do this. It could have a big impact on pharmaceutical companies' long-term profits and desire to invent new medications," says Boston University economics professor and National Center for Policy Analysis Senior Fellow Laurence Kotlikoff. "On the other hand, in some areas, they [drug makers] need to be brought back in line."