Byron Dorgan: “This is a prescription drug made in Ireland. It is made in Ireland. It is called Lipitor. It is for the reduction of…”

“This is a prescription drug made in Ireland. It is made in Ireland. It is called Lipitor. It is for the reduction of cholesterol. It lowers your cholesterol--the same pill, put in the same bottle, made by the same company, made in the same FDA-approved plant. It has only one difference--only one. That is, this one costs twice as much. Why? Because this one was sent to Canada and this was sent to the United States. The U.S. consumer is told: Congratulations, you get to pay twice as much for the prescription drug. But that is not unusual. It is happening all the time. Let's talk about counterfeiting. This is a $20 bill. This is a new $20 bill, you know, the ones we brag about, the ones the mint has press conferences about. We have all kinds of technology in this $20 bill to prevent and prohibit counterfeiters from reproducing this $20 bill. We can build a technology in a $20 bill to prevent counterfeiting, but we can't do it for medicine? Are you kidding me? What we have provided in this amendment is a series of steps: complete pedigree, serial numbers, RFID technology and anticounterfeiting measures. We can do it for a $20 bill but not for a bottle of medicine? Don't believe it. We are going to vote at 4 o'clock. The question is going to be: Will the pharmaceutical industry have their way once again, as they have so often? Let me make a point that is important. The Cochran amendment is already law. It was passed in 2003--in 2003. It already exists in law.”