HP1184, , 129th Maine State Legislature , Amendment H "A", Filing Number H-364, Sponsored by Berry

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Amend the resolution by striking out all of the 4th to 7th indented paragraphs and inserting the following:
‘WHEREAS, the Commissioner of the United States Food and Drug Administration, Dr. Scott Gottlieb, stated on February 28, 2019 that when "an American consumer goes to Canada and walks into a brick-and-mortar Canadian pharmacy and buys a medicine they’re getting a high-quality drug because of Canada’s first-class drug regulatory process"; and
WHEREAS,  a 2016 report of the United States Special Committee on Aging found that pharmaceutical manufacturing standards in Canada and the European Union are "stringent and comparable to U.S. standards"; and
WHEREAS,  in 2016, Americans spent $1,208 per person on prescription drugs while Canadians spent $833, and nearly one in three Americans have been unable to afford the medicine they were prescribed at some point in their lives; and
WHEREAS,  the Congressional Budget Office estimated that the federal Affordable and Safe Prescription Drug Importation Act, which was introduced in the United States Senate in the 115th Congress and would allow the importation of prescription drugs from Canada and certain member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, would save Americans over $5 billion over 10 years; and
WHEREAS,  the federal Medicare Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 requires the Secretary of Health and Human Services to allow individuals to import prescription drugs from Canada upon the Secretary’s certification to Congress that such importation will pose no additional risk to the public’s health and safety and will result in significant savings to American consumers; and
WHEREAS, multiple members of Congress from both major political parties, including Maine's delegation, have introduced legislation to increase access to qualifying prescription drugs imported from licensed sellers in Canada and other member nations of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, using standards for the approval and sale of such medications comparable to those in the United States, that are purchased from an entity certified by the United States Food and Drug Administration and that have the same active ingredient, strength and route of administration as drugs approved in the United States; and’
 
SUMMARY
This amendment adds to the joint resolution information regarding the importation of drugs.

HP1184, Filing Number H-364, LR 248, item 2, Session - 129th Maine Legislature, page