HHS Creates Task Force to Study Drug Importation

Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy G. Thompson announced on Feb. 26 that a task force had been created to advise and assist HHS in determining whether and how drug importation into the United States could be conducted safely. The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003 (MMA) directed the HHS to lead a comprehensive study to be completed by December 2004, gauging both the positive and negative effects that can be expected on the health of American patients, on medical costs and on the development of new medicines if pharmaceutical products are imported into the United States from countries with lower drug prices.