WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Recognizing voter concern about the high cost of medicines, a key U.S. Senate committee chairman said Tuesday he plans to unveil this week legislation that would allow importation of cheaper drugs from Canada and other countries.þþNew Hampshire Republican Judd Gregg, chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee, said his legislation would allow importation from Canada first, and later add on other industrialized countries. He declined to give any details, or to give a timetable for committee action.þþWith the costs of U.S. drugs rising sharply, the question of whether to allow drug imports has become a big election year issue. Drugs in Canada, similar or even identical to U.S. medications, are sold for a fraction of the U.S. cost.þþMany other senators have already rallied around another bipartisan importation bill spearheaded by North Dakota Democrat Byron Dorgan. Democrats are divided about how quickly to push for Senate floor action on drug reimportation, but action seems unlikely for at the very least several weeks.þþSenate Majority Leader Bill Frist, a Tennessee Republican, has repeatedly voiced concern about drug safety. He told reporters Tuesday he was having conversations with lawmakers on both sides of the issue and remains concerned about protecting patients ``from counterfeit drugs and from drugs that you don't know where their origin actually might be.''þþThe House last year strongly backed legislation that would let Americans import less expensive drugs from Canada and other nations, although most of the House Republican leadership opposed that bill.þþDrug makers, who are big political campaign contributors, oppose importation of lower-priced medicines. þþþþ
Source: NY Times
