Rep. Rahm Emanuel, the new chair of the DCCC, seems to have stumbled upon an interesting twist in the Bush administration’s opposition to reimportation of prescription medication: cows.
At this point, the administration believes the U.S. should continue to import Canadian beef, despite recent incidents of mad-cow disease. Simultaneously, the administration believes the U.S. cannot import Canadian medication, which have no reported safety concerns.
Emanuel thinks there’s something wrong with this picture. He contacted Agriculture Secretary Ann Veneman and HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson this week to ask for an explanation.
I am puzzled by your Departments’ recent conclusions about the relative safety of prescription drugs and cattle imported from Canada.
Despite three Canadian cows infected with mad cow disease, the Department of Agriculture appears ready to reopen American markets to Canadian cattle in March.
Curiously, three known cases of mad cow disease are insufficient evidence to halt the opening of the U.S. market to Canadian cattle. But the fact that none of the millions of Americans who purchase prescription drugs from Canada have been harmed is not enough evidence for the Administration to support the importation of prescription drugs.
If this is an issue of safety, why are we allowing tainted beef into the country while at the same time prohibiting Americans’ access to the same safe prescription drugs available here in the United States at reduced prices? How can we justify opening our markets to a beef supply that we know is contaminated with mad cow disease while simultaneously insisting, without any evidence, that Canadian drugs are unsafe? These decisions indicate that the policy of this Administration is that the importation of tainted beef is acceptable while the importation of safe drugs is not.
Good point. Any chance Veneman and Thompson will respond? No, I don’t think so either.