Drug importation program a priority for DeSantis
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NSF Staff Report
Gov. Ron DeSantis said that the state is ready to begin importing drugs from Canada and pushed President Joe Biden’s administration to give Florida the green light to move ahead with the program.
“It’s been under review enough. We have followed every regulation. We have met every requirement we were asked to meet and we want now to be able to get this final approval so we can finally move forward,” DeSantis told reporters at a press conference at the LifeScience Logistics Distribution Center in Lakeland last Friday.
The governor said Florida could save between $80 and $150 million on prescription drugs if the plan is approved. The DeSantis administration in November submitted to the federal government the state’s plan to establish a drug-importation program, which the Florida Legislature in 2019 authorized the governor to pursue.
But the proposal was immediately challenged by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the Partnership for Safe Medicines and the Council for Affordable Health Coverage. The federal rules required for drug importation also were challenged. DeSantis said that Florida’s plan has been under review for six months.
“We were told that if it wasn’t denied last week, that we should assume it’s going to be approved. But we want to get that final approval,” DeSantis said.
But drug manufacturers maintain that the plan isn’t safe.
“Drug importation is a dangerous scheme with no guarantee to actually making medicines more affordable,” PhRMA spokeswoman Sarah Sutton said in an email last Friday.
DeSantis was joined at the Lakeland press conference by Agency for Health Care Administration Secretary Simone Marstiller and former interim secretary Shevaun Harris, as well as Department of Business and Professional Regulation Secretary Julie Brown.
DeSantis noted that Brown’s agency last week completed its inspection of the LifeScience Logistics warehouse, where the company is gearing up to receive shipments from Canada and process orders. The state hired LifeScience Logistics to help implement and administer the program.
