Congressman Raja Krishnamoorthi is right in his Sun-Times op-ed, “Congress can do more to reduce prescription drug costs,” which acknowledged that, as he wrote, “The Inflation Reduction Act is a huge step in the right direction.”
However, when Krishnamoorthi suggested additional legislation needed to lower drug prices, he neglected to include the Affordable and Safe Prescription Drug Importation Act, a bill on which he was an original sponsor as recently as 2019. Expanded access to personal importation is the only solution that can have immediate, broad and long-term savings on prescription drug prices for Americans.
The Inflation Reduction Act is indeed a major step to rein in U.S. drug prices. But for millions of Americans, this bill alone won’t result in the savings they need right now to afford their critical daily medications. While Medicare price negotiations are an important future step, lives are currently at stake. One in four Americans report difficulties affording their medications, and this legislation won’t deliver cost savings for years.
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Americans need and deserve relief from the dire consequences of high drug prices, and personal prescription importation is an immediate lifeline. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that more than five million Americans already import medications. Americans who import their prescription medications from safe, licensed Canadian pharmacies report saving over $3,700 a year on average. Prices on brand-name prescription medications are 50-90% less expensive from licensed Canadian pharmacies compared to leading U.S. pharmacies.
Prescription importation from Canada has broad bipartisan public support. We urge Congress to take up the Affordable and Safe Prescription Drug Importation Act, a bill that would expand American access to personal prescription importation and offer immediate drug price relief.
Jack Pfeiffer, Executive Director, Campaign for Personal Prescription Importation
The far right blueprint
The average person has about 20,000 words in their daily vocabulary, and supposedly has a basic understanding of how our democratic system of government works. Unfortunately, I’m beginning to think that both of those claims are in error. It is appalling to read reports like the one regarding the vandalism at a church that supports abortion rights.
The far right often rages about their First Amendment rights, and they should be allowed to exercise them. Yet here is a case of a church doing that, expressing an opinion, as they have the right to do, only to find themselves the victim of a crime at the the hands of those who oppose that opinion. What happened to that church’s rights? They don’t exist because this other group opposes it?
Which leads to the second point. The far right keeps bringing up socialism and fascism in criticizing those on the left. I wonder if they really know what those terms mean and could discuss them without first Googling both terms. The attempted suppression of this church’s rights, the authoritarian proposals by some far right political leaders, the belief in a natural social hierarchy based on race and other factors — guess what? Those actions are what the far right sets as goals, yet criticizes others for doing.
People need to pick up dictionaries and history books to make sure they understand what they are talking about and doing.
Dan Pupo, Orland Park
