The amendment is supported by several senators and has bipartisan support. Unfortunately, FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg feels “there are significant safety concerns” if the amendment were to pass. I would love to have the Commissioner go into more detail about these safety concerns, and what they might be. I wouldn’t want medication imported from Iran or Yemen, but I’m fine with medication imported from Canada. If medication is shipped to my state from Maine, then what’s the big deal if it travels a few miles farther? Are we anticipating the Canadians trying to kill us? Is it in anyway related to U.S. teams winning too many Stanley Cups?

Senator Dorgan’s amendment, and ideas like it, are the way to go. They would likely bring down health care costs by using common sense approaches, rather than creating a massive bureaucracy. Now, all we need to do is hope more similar ideas are included.