AARP study backs drug reimportation

A study funded by the politically influential AARP finds that drug reimportation has helped control costs in the European Union. The study recommends that US consumers be allowed to obtain prescription drugs from outside the country. The AARP's Public Policy Institute looked at the legal trade in prescription drugs between wholesalers in the EU and found that "parallel trading," as reimportation is known in Europe, helps keep drug costs under control in countries which allow it. Senators Byron Dorgan (D-ND) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) have sponsored legislation which would allow Americans to buy prescription drugs from both the 25-member EU and from Canada.

- see this story from the Washington Times