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      • Studies on Safety
      • Why Importation Is Not a Solution
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Importation: Learn More About Why Importation Is Not a Solution

Here are a sampling of publications which survey the problems with importation of prescription drugs to the U.S., as well as a study that highlights how consumers could achieve cost-savings by comparing prices at U.S. pharmacies.

• Would Prescription Drug Importation Reduce U.S. Drug Spending? - Congressional Budget Office, April 2004
  In this brief, the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) evaluates recent proposals to allow prescription drug importation. Based on its review of these proposals, CBO concludes that the reduction in drug spending from importation would be small.
  • View the Brief
• HHS Report on Prescription Drug Importation - U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS), December 2004
  This comprehensive report, written by the Department of Health and Human Services, reviews the current situation with respect to importation of prescription drugs and finds that there are significant risks associated with currently imported drugs. It concludes that it would be extraordinarily difficult and costly for personal importation to be implemented in a way that ensures the safety and effectiveness of the imported drugs and suggests that legalized commercial importation would likely result in minimal overall national savings.
  • Download the Report
• The High Price of Cheap Drugs, The American Enterprise Institute
  This issue brief, written by AEI scholar John Calfee, examines what would happen if the U.S. were to engage in importation of pharmaceuticals. He concludes that importation would essentially be like importing foreign price controls, which would destroy the pricing structure of the U.S. drug market and have disastrous consequences for future drug research and development.
  • Read the Brief
• EU Pharmaceutical Trade Benefits to Patients - A London School of Economics Report, 2004
  This is a link to a study of the EU pharmaceutical trade practice known as parallel importing, which is the practice of purchasing patented medicines from foreign countries based on the principal that once a product is sold, the seller loses all ownership rights over it. The study, which was conducted by a researcher at the London School of Economics, concludes that there are no direct benefits to patients from parallel importation, and recommends a re-evaluation of current practice by policymakers.
  • View the Study
• The High Cost of Cheap Drugs - An Opinion Piece from The AEI-Brookings Joint Center for Regulatory Studies, December 2004
  Jacob Arfwedson, an expert on parallel importation of pharmaceuticals, emphasizes that reimportation is one of the most effective ways to slow or even halt the production of new pharmaceuticals. He highlights the negative impact that reimportation policies and price controls have had on the European market, and extols the virtues of the free market.
  • Read the Article

Last Updated September 2007