Without question our health care system is in a crisis and people are rightly demanding solutions.  It is getting harder and harder for Americans, especially seniors, to afford the medicines prescribed by their doctors. 

While seniors in the United States are struggling to pay for medicine, those in other countries are paying 30 to 70 percent less for the same drugs.  This is not fair.  Many of the good people of East Tennessee continue to see their cost of prescription drugs skyrocket.  We need to strike a balance between the safety of drugs for our seniors and the constantly rising cost of prescription medicines.

Large drug companies are trying to scare seniors by sending misleading advertisements about the drug importation legislation being debated in Congress.  It is unfortunate that they will deceive folks to make more profit.  I support efforts to give seniors access to less expensive drugs whether they come from Europe, Canada, or the U.S. 

Such market access legislation would allow drug wholesalers, pharmacies, and individuals to import FDA-approved drugs from the European Union and Canada.  This does not apply to controlled substances, including narcotics.  To ensure the safety of these drugs I also support strict tamper-proof packaging and other visual anti-counterfeiting measures found on the currency of over 80 countries.

What we must have is competition.  It does not exist anymore in the U.S. pharmaceutical industry.  I look forward to working toward common sense solutions to meet the prescription drug needs of Americans while maintaining the stringent safety standards that we have here in the U.S.