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Letter: Senators’ vote is misguided

By William Sterr, Vancouver
Published: January 18, 2017, 6:00am

I was appalled to discover last week that both Washington Sens. Patty Murray and Maria Cantwell joined most Republican senators to defeat an amendment that would have allowed importation of lower-priced pharmaceuticals from Canada into this country.

Canadian standards for drug production and handling are comparable to those in this country, and many drugs for both markets are made in the same labs.

So why did our senators vote against a break for American citizens who pay the highest prices in the world for these drugs? I’ve asked them, and await their probably vacuous answers.

But this might help explain it: Patty Murray has received over $470,000 in drug company donations since 2011. Maria Cantwell has also received donations, although nowhere near as large. The other 11 Democratic senators who voted against the bill also receive large sums from the pharmaceutical industry.

Is denying Americans an opportunity to buy the same drugs at a lower cost going to help the Democrats or hurt them? Surely it will hurt them, because it shows them to be in thrall to Big Pharma just as the Republicans have been for decades. By the way, both Oregon senators voted to support the amendment.

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