DeMint urges prescription drug imports

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Standing at the counter of a family-owned pharmacy in this Columbia suburb, the three-term Greenville congressman said, "American consumers deserve access to prescription drugs at the lowest costs available."

DeMint was a co-sponsor of legislation authorizing drug imports that won House approval but remains stalled in the Senate.

DeMint's position prompted no argument from Inez Tenenbaum, his Democratic opponent. Kay Packett, Tenenbaum's acting campaign manager, said her candidate fully supports the importation of prescription drugs as a means of lowering costs to American consumers.

DeMint said the importation of prescription drugs from Canada and Europe, where U.S. firms sell them more cheaply than at home, would create "a competitive retail pharmacy marketplace that will yield significant savings for American consumers" without sacrificing safety.

Soaring costs mean that 30 percent of all prescriptions written by doctors go unfilled, DeMint said. "An unaffordable prescription is neither safe nor effective," he said.

Under existing law and business practices, American consumers pay high prices that subsidize the socialized economies of Canada and Europe, DeMint said.

"This is a great example of what happens when the government protects a particular market in this country, where they rule out international competition and then suddenly prices go up dramatically," he said.

"We have to encourage competition in pharmaceutical markets, and the best way to get Americans the best price in the world is to make sure there's competition all over the world."

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Dan Hoover covers politics and can be reached at 298-4883.