Michael Burgess: “I rise tonight to talk about patient safety and the trade policy of this country as it relates to foreign prescription…”

“I rise tonight to talk about patient safety and the trade policy of this country as it relates to foreign prescription drugs. If I correctly recall, and do not trust my memory, we can all look it up, back in March of this year this House overwhelmingly approved a bill that would improve patient safety and improve the quality of care delivered in this country. Some of my colleagues have asked us to consider a plan of imported foreign prescription drugs into this country that would run counter to the vote cast by a majority in this House not 4 months ago. Mr. Speaker, we must approach this problem with thoughtfulness and logic. If we want to address the cost of prescription drugs in this country, we can take several approaches to lower the cost, but any options should not come at the cost of patient safety. Some in this House believe that if Americans had the ability to purchase their drugs from Canada or Mexico or Belize or Europe or Mars, that the United States market would adjust and reflect the importation of cheaper medicines. But let us be clear, foreign countries place price controls on their prescription drugs.”