Drugs from Canada

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Democrats are blaming President Bush for allowing mad cow disease to come into the United States. In particular, they have complained about lax inspection and tracking of cattle imported from Canada. Howard Dean is proposing "a system of instant traceability for all cattle." John Kerry wants a national system to track the movement of livestock. John Edwards said the nation needs far better food protections.

Democrats' concern stems from the fact that it took days to trace the source back to one Holstein from Alberta. We do need better tracking to keep pace with what is now a North American cattle market. Because Canadian cows are cheaper, American cattlemen imported over 1 million head of cattle from Canada in 2002. A New York Times article reported that so many animals were imported that dairymen and auctioneers have said that farmers rarely distinguished between cows from the two countries. That was the case even though all Canadian cattle that cross the border into the United States after July 1, 2001, are supposed to have a "herd of origin" tag.

But the same Democrats -- and Republicans -- who want to do whatever is required to reduce the risk of mad cow contamination to zero are eagerly supporting measures that would weaken safeguards to allow the importation of drugs from foreign countries at a time when counterfeit and tainted drugs are an epidemic.

Democratic presidential candidates enthusiastically support the proposal of New Hampshire's Republican governor to set up a state Web site to allow people there to buy cheaper drugs through Canadian pharmacies that come in 'original' manufacturer packaging. The Food and Drug Administration says the plan is unsafe and illegal, since there is no way to trace the drugs back to their source at a time when Canada still refuses to allow the FDA to inspect its wholesale, distribution and manufacturing operations. Canada is currently a net importer of medicines, including imports from countries such as Saudi Arabia, Pakistan and India, which are havens for drug counterfeiters.

It is much more difficult to assure the integrity of the drug supply than it is the health of the North American cattle market. There is an incentive for making fake drugs, but there are serious risks to those who sell a diseased animal for one simple reason: It is much easier to trace and tag cows than it is to trace and tag phony or dangerous drugs. FDA and pharmaceutical security experts have discovered that counterfeiters can overcome tracking and anti-fraud technology within a year. Hence, the key to safety in the face of an increasing threat -- whether it be mad cows or more counterfeit drugs -- is tighter control of distribution and more inspections.

But politicians who eagerly embrace stricter scrutiny over cattle want less rigorous import controls over medicines in an increasingly global market. Mr. Dean -- who wants to spend whatever it takes to track every cow on the continent -- dismisses concerns about the safety of imported drugs as "complete hogwash, total drivel from the drug companies." Perhaps he can explain why a spot check of more than 1,100 packages of mail-order drugs from foreign suppliers turned up evidence of tampering, counterfeiting or other violations of U.S. drug safety laws in nearly nine out of every 10 of those packages. Or why state regulators and FDA officials want to limit distribution of drugs within America from manufacturers to authorized wholesalers with sophisticated tracking systems.

The duplicity is bipartisan. Rep. Gil Gutknecht, Minnesota Republican, introduced a bill that would have allowed anyone to import drugs from over 20 countries, including some that lead the world in exporting counterfeit medicines. His bill would have barred the FDA from testing or vouching for the safety of medicines before they entered the medicine supply. His bill will be the starting point for yet another push to allow importation of drugs from overseas during this Congress. Imagine the reaction to such a proposal if the word 'cattle' was substituted for the words 'prescription drugs.'

We can't quickly track a handful of contaminated cattle coming in from Canada. How can we trace billions of pills and vials as they are distributed to millions of Americans, especially if our politicians don't take drug safety seriously? Fake drugs are already coming into America, and if we seek to drain Canada -- which is one-tenth our size -- of its medicines, more counterfeits will flood through an already porous system. That our mad cow-concerned leaders don't care can only be explained by the fact that cattle are not the only things that had their brains and spines removed before entering American public life.

Robert M. Goldberg is director of the Manhattan Institute's Center for Medical Progress.