As I write this, it appears that the Senate has once again failed, in the face of strong drug-company lobbying, to permit reimportation of prescription drugs from Canada, as well as Australia, New Zealand, Japan and Switzerland.

A bipartisan bill (S 2328) was introduced by Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., and Sen. Olympia Snow, R-Maine, earlier this year and seemed to have support from most members. But with Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, R-Tenn., leading the opposition under the specious claim that the reimported drugs might not be safe, the Senate let its chance to do something right for seniors (and others who need affordable life-saving drugs) pass.

The fact is we’re talking about reimporting the same drugs our home-based companies have sold to the other countries. To insinuate they might be harmful is to imply that the American companies that make them are producing unsafe products.

As I’ve said before, we have to push the new Congress into acting on behalf of the American public and not the companies that can afford to pay high-priced lobbyists to make sure their profit margins remain high.

On that note, you might like to know that while seniors and other vulnerable members of the population continue to be denied access to potentially life-saving flu vaccinations because of the ongoing shortage, Sen. Frist opened a clinic in his Senate office where flu shots were provided to a number of lawmakers as well as to their staffs, who were described as generally young and fit.

Health Update

The government has approved a small computer chip to be implanted under the skin, giving doctors quick access to a person’s identity and medical records. This will help avoid emergency-room errors and also help identify people with Alzheimer’s or other forms of dementia who may have wandered off. The chip is expected to be on the market later next year.