WP: Illinois May Buy Canadian Drugs

[CShine]

Facing budget-breaking increases in prescription drug bills, the governor of Illinois took the first step yesterday toward purchasing lower-cost medications from Canada, a move that puts him in direct conflict with federal regulators and signals a dramatic escalation in the civil war over U.S. drug prices.

What began a decade ago with busloads of senior citizens trekking across the border in search of cheaper medicines has mushroomed into a nationwide rebellion. It has spread from small, nonprofit groups to the private sector, and now, to local and state officials who are defiantly ignoring warnings by the Bush administration and the pharmaceutical industry that drug reimportation is dangerous and illegal.

Gov. Rod Blagojevich, a Democrat, said he has directed the Illinois special advocate to draft a plan for buying inexpensive medications in Canada for as many as 240,000 state employees and retirees. The change could save the state tens of millions of dollars.

"The status quo on prescription drugs is intolerable and unacceptable," Blagojevich said in an interview yesterday. This year, the state is spending $340 million on prescriptions for its workforce, a 15 percent increase over last year.


http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A10735-2003Sep14.html

[Ellen Forradalom]

1. Hey, good for him.

Illinois is firmly in Dem hands for the moment. I'm glad he's using that position to defy the Bushies.