The Missing Debate

Boston Globe columnist Robert Kuttner hit the nail on the head yesterday when he wrote that there was something lunatic about the media parroting industry propagandists and turning this year's debate over prescription drug prices into a debate over the safety of imported drugs. As he put it, it's not as if Canadians are making drugs up there. The drugs Americans import are the same ones produced in Puerto Rico (mostly) that you get at the corner pharmacy. What Americans actually import is Canada's rational drug pricing policy, which doesn't buy the Rx industry's hooey that high prices are needed to foster innovation.

Of course, the alternative to importing a better policy is having a decent one at home. That will require an administration and a Food and Drug Administration not beholden to the drug industry. To read Kuttner's column, click here.