Take away our cash flow and you'll lose jobs.
See Debbie Stabinow's recent legislation: Pharmaceutical Market Access and Drug Safety Act
Read about the loss of over 2,100 jobs in the Ann Arbor News
Ann Arbor News Coverage Online
I'm not seeing very much frank discussion. It's difficult to forsee how Michigan is going to attract new private sector investment. Until we engage in more critical assessment.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEJanuary 10, 2007
Contact: Press Office Phone: 202-224-4822
Stabenow Continues Fight to Make Prescription Drugs More Affordable
Legislation would allow pharmacies to import drugs from Canada, save money for Michigan families
WASHINGTON - U.S. Senator Debbie Stabenow (D-MI) today announced the reintroduction of legislation to allow reimportation of safe, lower-priced prescription drugs from Canada into the United States. The Pharmaceutical Market Access and Drug Safety Act would allow U.S. licensed pharmacies and drug wholesalers to import Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved medications from Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Japan, and European Union nations, passing along much needed cost savings to American consumers. Stabenow was a lead co-sponsor of this bill in the 109th Congress, and continues that role with this reintroduction in the 110th.
"Pharmacists in Michigan and across the country would like to be able to do business with their counterparts in Canada and other industrialized nations to offer customers their medications at affordable prices," said Stabenow. "This legislation would provide a safe and secure framework to help seniors, families, and businesses lower their often crippling health care costs."
According to the Congressional Budget Office, this legislation would save the federal government $6.1 billion over 10 years - money that could be used to protect health care for veterans and retirees.Last year, Stabenow was successful in passing a provision permitting individuals to import FDA-approved prescription drugs from Canada. The measure was signed into law last October.
"Prescription drugs aren't like other products - they are a necessity families cannot do without when finances are tight," said Stabenow. "Our families, our pharmacists, and our businesses deserve better, and this bill is step in the right direction."
Detroit News, Monday, January 22, 2007,
"Attack on drug companies will send jobs out of state"
"U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow has long had the pharmaceutical industry in her sights and, with the shift in power in Congress, now has the support she needs to attack. That doesn't bode well for the more than 12,000 people who work for the pharmaceutical industry in Michigan. As a member of the Finance Committee, Stabenow can wield influence over Medicare and Medicaid policies and help shape regulations that affect everything from the research and development of new drugs to how companies advertise and sell their products. We're not encouraged by the preliminary reports from Washington. Democrats in Congress, being pressed by Stabenow and other outspoken critics of the pharmaceutical industry, are pushing legislation authorizing Medicare to negotiate prices with drug manufacturers. They also want wholesale investigations into the business practices of the drug companies.
Stabenow has supported tax incentives for Pfizer Inc.'s Michigan operations, which went toward research and development, but she remains at odds with the industry on a number of other issues. Fundamental change in how prescription drugs are distributed to the public is premature. Though the Medicare Part D drug plan has had its issues, reports show that seniors who have enrolled are saving money. And price controls, which is what will happen if government officials start negotiating prices for prescription drugs, have failed every time they've been implemented by populist politicians. They create shortages and take away the incentive for profit that companies use to invest in research and development. Much like her misguided and naïve attack on the oil industry, Stabenow fails to grasp the magnitude of the research and development and the risk pharmaceutical companies take to produce and market drugs to keep people healthier and alive longer. She also ignores the economic impact Pfizer Inc. has on the state.
The company employs more than 7,000 and has research laboratories and programs in Ann Arbor that specialize in drugs that treat cancer, heart and vascular disease, arthritis, skin disease and psychological disorders. Its jobs pay an average of $60,000 each, and the company works closely with the University of Michigan. Those are exactly the kind of jobs Michigan needs to turn itself away from the Rust Belt economy that has led it into this continued single-state recession. Stabenow should be leading the charge to bring more high-paying, high-education jobs from the pharmaceutical industry into Michigan, not working to kick them out. Of course, attacking the drug companies is easy and in vogue.
Much like the auto industry, the pharmaceutical industry is viewed as having deep pockets. That's why trial lawyers also attack it relentlessly. Instead of going after the alleged problem -- rules approved by the Food and Drug Administration that critics say are not stringent enough -- trial lawyers and politicians attack the companies. A better way to reduce drug costs is to stop the lawsuit abuse. Locally, state Democrats are vowing to repeal Michigan's law that grants immunity to drug companies if their products meet FDA standards.
The message these attacks send is clear: Michigan remains an unfriendly place in which to do business. What's worse, that charge is led by the very people who should be working to change the state's anti-business image. "
