Feingold Supports Effort to Legalize Reimportation of FDA-Approved Prescription Drugs Access to Safe, FDA-Approved Reimported Drugs Would Help Bring Down the Cost of Health Care for America's Seniors July 12, 2006 Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Russ Feingold (D-WI) supported an amendment to the 2007 Homeland Security Appropriation Bill yesterday that allows prescription drugs to be imported from Canada for personal use. The amendment, filed by Sen. David Vitter (R-LA), prohibits U.S. Customs and Border Patrol agents from seizing Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved drugs. Sen. Feingold has been a long-time supporter of allowing the safe importation of prescription drugs approved by the FDA, giving Americans access to their medicines at lower prices. “I was pleased to support this effort to help Americans gain access to affordable prescription drugs from Canada," Feingold said. "I have heard from a number of my constituents, many of them elderly or disabled, who purchased prescriptions from Canada but never received their orders. They discovered that Customs officials are searching mail that crosses the U.S.-Canada border and confiscating any packages going into the U.S. that contain prescription drugs. If passed into law, this provision will help give Wisconsinites a break in their health care costs." “It is about time that the federal government takes this kind of action to support our nation’s seniors, rather than the interests of drug companies, and make safe and affordable prescription drugs available to those who need them.”

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