Company says it could save TennCare $456M a year
NASHVILLE (AP) — Representatives of a Canadian drug distribution company told lawmakers Tuesday they could save the state about $456 million a year on 61 of TennCare’s 100 most costly prescriptions.
On one drug alone, cholesterol-lowering Zocor, CanaRx Services Inc. claims it could save Tennessee more than half of the $39 million that was spent on six months worth of prescriptions last year.
That prompted Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Jerry Cooper to suggest exploring a pilot project, perhaps for state employees, “to prove to this state and the rest of America that lower-cost drugs from Canada are absolutely safe and secure.” CanaRx chief executive Tony Howard said he would gladly consider it.
Drug manufacturers claim Tennesseans could end up with counterfeit drugs.
“You wouldn’t want to give a child a drug brought in from another country. It’s not safe,” said Sandy Beaty, a lobbyist for Pfizer Inc., who chairs a state Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers Association task force. She said one counterfeit drug imported into the U.S. contained paint.
Sen. Mark Norris, R-Collierville, said he was concerned about liability if an unsafe drug makes it to a Tennessee patient.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has outlawed the importation of prescription drugs because it cannot guarantee their safety, but has not gone after companies such as CanaRx.
The company is supplying drugs to employees of Springfield, Mass., saving the city nearly $250,000, Howard said. And the city of Burlington, Vt., will be signing up for a similar service March 1, he said.
Howard said that although more than $1 billion in medication was shipped from Canada to the U.S. in 2003, the FDA found no evidence of “anything bogus, outdated or wrong.”
If there are problems with the drugs the country is distributing, Howard asked, “where are all the dead Canadians?”
He said it is ridiculous that U.S. consumers are paying three times the cost of prescription drugs in Canada and other countries. “If Canada had to pay what the U.S. is paying, our system would be unaffordable,” Howard said.
Cooper, D-Morrison, quipped that “we know all about that.”
Pharmacy costs in TennCare are expected to exceed $2.3 billion this year and have risen 23 percent annually during the last three years.
Earlier this month, Gov. Phil Bredesen outlined a plan aimed at containing TennCare costs, particularly in pharmaceuticals. In part it would require the “lowest-cost” prescriptions, but Bredesen has been interested in using generics rather than Canadian drugs.
“He’s basically focused on his fundamental reforms,” Bredesen spokesman Will Pinkston said.
———
On the Net:
Tennessee General Assembly: http://www.legislature.state.tn.us