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106TH CONGRESS

2D SESSION S. 2464

To amend the Robinson-Patman Anti-discrimination Act to protect American

consumers from foreign drug price discrimination.

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

APRIL 26, 2000

Mr. GORTON introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred

to the Committee on the Judiciary

A BILL

To amend the Robinson-Patman Anti-discrimination Act to

protect American consumers from foreign drug price discrimination.

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled,

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Prescription Drug

5 Fairness Act’’.

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS.

7 Congress finds that—

8 (1) It is difficult for some Americans, particu9 larly senior citizens, to afford the prescription drugs

10 they need to stay healthy;
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1 (2) many American seniors cross the border to

2 Canada or Mexico to buy prescription drugs devel3 oped, manufactured, and approved in the United

4 States at lower prices than the same drugs are avail5 able for in the United States;

6 (3) according to the General Accounting Office,

7 American consumers pay on average 43 percent

8 more for prescription drugs than Canadian con9 sumers;

10 (4) recognizing that the development of new

11 drugs is important because the use of such drugs en12 ables people to live longer and lead healthier, more

13 productive lives, the United States has made a

14 strong commitment to supporting the research and

15 development of new drugs through taxpayer-sup16 ported funding of the National Institutes of Health,

17 through the Research and Development tax credit

18 and through other means;

19 (5) forty-five percent of the new drugs devel20 oped in the last 25 years were developed in the

21 United States;

22 (6) other countries should pay a fair share of

23 the cost of research and development of new drugs

24 that benefit everyone, not just Americans; and
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1 (7) since 1936, the Robinson-Patman Act has

2 prohibited price discrimination among like buyers in

3 the United States, and has established as a legal

4 norm the concept of fair dealing in pricing. These

5 same principles of fair dealing should be applied to

6 prescription drug sales to wholesalers in different

7 countries.

8 SEC. 3. AMENDMENT TO THE ROBINSON-PATMAN ANTI-DIS9 CRIMINATION ACT.

10 (a) PRESCRIPTION DRUG PRICING.—Section 2 of the

11 Clayton Act (as amended by the Robinson-Patman Anti12 discrimination Act (15 U.S.C. 13)) is amended by adding

13 at the end the following:

14 ‘‘(g)(1) For purposes of enforcing subsection (a), the

15 sale of a prescription drug by a manufacturer outside the

16 United States shall be deemed to be the sale of that pre17 scription drug within the United States, and discrimina18 tion in price between wholesalers within the United States,

19 and wholesalers outside the United States shall be deemed

20 substantially to injure, destroy, or prevent competition

21 with any person who either grants or knowingly receives

22 the benefit of such discrimination, or with customers of

23 either of them.

24 ‘‘(2) In this subsection:
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1 ‘‘(A) The term ‘manufacturer’ means any enti2 ty, including any affiliate of that entity, that is en3 gaged in—

4 ‘‘(i) the production, preparation, propaga5 tion, compounding, conversion, or processing of

6 prescription drugs, either directly or indirectly

7 by extraction from substances of natural origin,

8 or independently by means of chemical syn9 thesis, or by a combination of extraction and

10 chemical synthesis; or

11 ‘‘(ii) in the packaging, repackaging, label12 ing, relabeling, or distribution of prescription

13 drugs.

14 ‘‘(B) The term ‘prescription drug’ means a

15 drug—

16 ‘‘(i) that is described in section 503(b)(1)

17 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act

18 (21 U.S.C. 353 (b)(1));

19 ‘‘(ii) for which an application has been ap20 proved under section 505 of the Federal Food,

21 Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. 355), or as

22 applicable, under section 351 of the Public

23 Health Service Act (942 U.S.C. 262).’’.
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1 (b) EFFECTIVE DATE.—This Act shall take effect 6

2 months after the date of enactment of this section.

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