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How you can stop
the drug price ripoff
Americans pay outrageously inflated prices for their prescription drugs
compared to citizens of other countries. What follows are examples of
unconscionably high prices Americans pay for their medicines.
The House of Representatives just passed a bill that will enable Americans
to import lower-cost prescription drugs from other countries for their
own personal use. This bill now must get through the Senate. It is crucial
that everyone send the this form
letter to their two Senators to get this bill enacted into law.
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US
Price |
European
Price |
| ACCUPRIL
5 |
$10.29 |
$3.50 |
| ALLEGRA
120 |
$23.33 |
$6.96 |
| AMBIEN |
$19.65 |
$5.41 |
| BIAXIN
500 |
$32.83 |
$22.05 |
| CIPRO250 |
$36.14 |
$15.20 |
| CLARITIN |
$21.02 |
$5.35 |
| COUMADIN |
$12.58 |
$2.74 |
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GLUCOPHAGE |
$10.04 |
$1.37 |
| NORVASC
10 |
$20.96 |
$11.08 |
| PRAVACHOL
40 |
$33.97 |
$23.32 |
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PREVACID15 |
$35.82 |
$11.06 |
| PRILOSEC |
$34.49 |
$17.56 |
| PROZAC |
$23.98 |
$14.70 |
| VASOTEC
5 |
$9.38 |
$2.77 |
| ZESTRIL
5 |
$8.64 |
$1.84 |
| ZITHROMAX
500 |
$162.00 |
$58.73 |
| ZOLOFT
50 |
$20.95 |
$12.19 |
| ZYRTEC |
$16.70 |
$5.91 |
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Passage of this Senate bill will stop the FDA from interfering with lower-cost
imports of FDA-approved products from other countries. It would force
today’s pharmaceutical cartel to compete in the world marketplace!
Last year, Congress voted overwhelmingly to allow importation of prescription
drugs. Supporters of this free market approach thought they were going
to be able to mail order prescription drugs. The FDA blocked last year’s
Congressional victory by refusing to implement it. Now, the FDA wants
to block all mail orders of prescription drugs.
Congressman Gil Gutknecht, the sponsor of the recent successful House
legislation stated: “While seniors in the U.S. are struggling to pay for
medicine, those in other countries are paying 30% to 70% less for the
exact same drugs. We can’t allow our own FDA to stand between seniors
and lower prescription drug prices.”
Contacting your Senators by e-mail
Contact your senator today. For your convenience, we made it easy to
send a message to your Senator. Just follow these simple steps:
Click here to fill
out a form with your name, mailing address and email address. Once you've
completed the form, click continue.
A personalized letter with your information and your senator's name will
be shown. If your Senator has an email address, you can then click on
the Send Mail button to send the message to your Senator.
If your Senator does not have an email address, the personalized letter
with your information and addressed to your Senator will appear. You can
then either print out this page or you can copy the text and paste it
into your own word processing software. Then, sign and mail the letter,
addressed to your Senator, to United States Senate, Washington, DC 20510.
For those of you that do not have email, we've included a sample of the
letter below. If you do not know who your Senators are, then you can find
out by calling (202) 225-3121.
Date:_____________
The Honorable____________________
United States Senate
Washington, D.C. 20510
Dear Senator:
Americans pay the highest prices in the world for their prescription
medications. Shifting high drug prices to Medicare only means that
the burden is transferred to the taxpayer. The House of Representatives
just passed the FY 2002 Agriculture Appropriations bill that includes
a provision to allow Americans to import FDA-approved drugs from
other countries. The price of these identical medications is 30%
to 70% lower than what Americans are being forced to pay today.
I urge you to support Senator Paul Wellstone's amendment to the
Agriculture Appropriations bill as long as it follows the Gutknecht
House language that allows Americans to obtain prescription drugs
from other countries for personal use. The House version of this
bill stops the FDA from blocking the importation of lower cost medications
from other countries. Please make sure this same language included
in the Senate version of this bill. As your constituent, I am asking
you to vote on the Fiscal Year 2002 Agriculture Appropriations bill
that includes the Gutknecht language. Passage of this bill (with
the personal importation provisions included) will make a significant
impact on resolving the health care cost crisis that threatens to
bankrupt this country.
Please let me know your position on this critically important issue.
Sincerely,
_____________________________
Signature
Name________________________
Address______________________
City_________ST____ZIP________
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