(Washington DC)  – Today U.S. Senator Dean Heller (R-NV) supported an amendment that would allow Americans to import FDA-approved prescription drugs from Canada into the United States at a lower cost to the consumer.  The amendment was introduced by Senator David Vitter (R-LA). It failed in the Senate despite the bipartisan support of twenty-eight Democrats and seventeen Republicans. 

“As the President’s new healthcare law increases medical costs, Nevadans need to find health care savings wherever they can. This bipartisan measure would keep large drug companies from passing along inflated prescription drug costs onto Nevadans already struggling to pay their bills. Research is important but it shouldn’t come at the cost of Americans’ access to treatment.  

“We’ve already seen the negative impacts of over-reaching regulations and government interference in healthcare. More competition in the pharmaceutical industry will help bring down the costs of prescription drugs and increase their availability,” said Senator Heller. 

In the 111^th Congress, Senator Heller introduced the Steps Toward Access and Reform (STAR) Act (H.R. 3483) to encourage prescription drug reimportation on the federal level.