by Louise Daly
CHICAGO, Aug 17 (AFP) - The Democratic governor of Illinois Tuesday announced an initiative to help consumers in his state access cheap prescription drugs in Europe and Canada, in a bold move on what is shaping up to be a major issue in the November 2 presidential election.
Governor Rod Blagojevich said the state was setting up an online portal to help residents shop for cheaper name-brand drugs in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada, to enable hard-up seniors and others to reduce their drug bills.
Blasting the federal government for failing to help American consumers squeezed by sky-rocketing drug costs, Blagojevich said he had no option but to act unilaterally to help consumers "shop" around for cut-price medications.
"There is a lot of money to be saved here. Prices in the United Kingdom, Ireland and Canada are typically 25 to 50 percent cheaper than they are here in the United States," he said.
"We can't keep asking people to spend more money than they have just to afford the medicine they need.
"The federal government has failed to act. So it's time that we do."
Millions of American consumers, mostly pensioners, already use online pharmacies to mail-order many of their medications from Canada in defiance of federal regulations on drug re-importation.
Caravans of pensioners from the US Midwest and the Northeast regularly make shopping trips cross the Canadian border in search of bargains.
Canada, like many European nations, has negotiated price breaks with the pharmaceutical companies by virtue of its ability to buy in bulk.
And it's not just individuals who are taking part in the grassroots disobedience campaign: a handful of states, including Minnesota, Wisconsin, North Dakota, New Hampshire and Rhode Island have set up Web sites to facilitate the cross-border trade.
The Illinois scheme is broader in scope than that of any other state, providing consumers in this Midwestern state with information and price comparisons on drugs sold in two European nations in addition to Canada.
Blagojevich said Tuesday that Illinois consumers could save thousands of dollars by using the online directory of state-approved pharmacies to scout for cheaper drugs.
If all of the state's 12.6 million residents were to use the state's pharmaceutical clearinghouse, the savings could be as much as 1.9 billion dollars in the first year, officials said.
The US Food and Drug Administration has so far turned a blind eye to the illicit trade, all the while insisting that the practice is risky, because the drugs and the pharmacies are not regulated by US authorities.
But a spokesman said Tuesday that the agency may ask the courts to weigh in on the issue, and decide which issue is more important, the affordability of drugs or the safety of them.
Meantime, authorities in Illinois are promising that their clearinghouse of Canadian, Irish and British pharmacies will be up and running within a month.
Officials said they will target the half a million Illinois residents who do not have health insurance initially, and then try to sign up state employees and retirees.