Dec. 8, 2004 | Washington -- The Bush administration missed a deadline Wednesday to give Congress a report on prescription drug imports, a day after it finalized a deal to buy flu vaccine made in Germany.
The report, mandated by last year's Medicare prescription drug law, is supposed to examine whether medicines can safely be brought into this country from Canada and elsewhere, where brand-name drugs cost at least a third less.
Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson said there was no effort to delay the report to avoid any embarrassing link with the government's decision that it could safely import flu vaccine from Germany.
Fluarix, the German-made vaccine, has not been licensed by the Food and Drug Administration for use in the United States and so will be available only as an investigational new drug. That means it can be used, but every patient must sign a consent form acknowledging the possibility of risks.
http://www.salon.com/news/wire/2004/12/08/import/index.html