The Bush administration last week said 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. Furthermore, the overall savings from legalized commercial importation would be small, and developing and implementing such a program would incur significant costs and require additional authorities.

“Additional safety protections would need to be added that would increase the costs of the program in an additive way as more safety measures are put in place,” the administration said. “Increased regulatory and program costs will also impact potential savings to consumers.”

However, some means of drug importation, like traveling to Canada to buy certain brand name drugs, may be relatively safe in specific instances, the administration said, and some individuals may enjoy significant savings.

More specifically, uninsured people who buy chronic use patented name-brand drugs on a regular basis may enjoy meaningful savings if they are able to buy safe and effective foreign versions of U.S. drugs for significantly less than what they would pay for U.S. drugs.

The administration said in a report to Congress that the public expectation that most imported drugs are less expensive than American drugs is not generally true.

“Generic drugs account for most prescription drugs used in the U.S. and are usually less expensive in the U.S. than abroad,” the administration said. “Shopping around for price comparisons, asking a doctor or pharmacist for a generic alternative to a prescribed brand name drug, or using a Medicare or other prescription drug discount card is a proven method to save American consumers money on domestic prescription drugs while retaining the protections of a comprehensive safety regime.”

The report, by a 13-member task force, in sum, finds that “American consumers currently purchasing drugs from overseas are generally doing so at significant risk.”

The task force said that legalizing imports would likely adversely affect the future development of new drugs for Americans consumers.

“This report estimates that R&D incentives will be lowered by legalized importation, resulting in roughly between four and eighteen fewer new drugs introduced per decade.”.

(via U.S. Department of Health and Human Services)