Publications

Proponents claim that legalizing prescription drug reimportation from overseas countries will lower the cost of drugs to U.S. consumers, and some proponents claim that allowing reimportation is a "free trade" issue. But reimportation is a Trojan Horse for importing the deficient regulatory regimes of foreign countries, rather than importing their prices.

The issue is safety. Twice the Secretaries of Health and Human Services have been unable to determine that U.S. consumers would be safe with large-scale prescription drug reimportation. Reasons for opposing prescription drug reimportation include: 1) U.S. Government agencies recognize the danger of illegal imports, 2) drug counterfeiting is rampant outside the U.S., 3) Canada isn't safe either, 4) it's all authorities can do to monitor the safety of drugs within the U.S., much less worrying about drugs from overseas, and 5) trial lawyers will sue pharmaceutical manufacturers for not ensuring the safety of their products, even when they have no control over them.

A well-designed personal account option for Social Security would be substantial, highly progressive, and would provide a broad array of benefits and advantages for working people across the board, including low-income workers, minorities, and others. This study provides a concrete, specific and detailed proposal for reform that delivers on the promise of a true personal account option.

Texas has an education problem, not just an education-funding problem. The current “Robin Hood” school finance system is but one fact of Texas’ education problem.

Americans are increasingly buying U.S.-made prescription drugs from Canada and other countries and bringing (i.e., reimporting) them back to the U.S. However, reimporting these drugs is breaking U.S. law. Should drug companies continue to sell to vendors who knowingly break the law and may put patients at risk? Reimportation is creating several ethical dilemmas for prescription drug manufacturers.

Driven by an insatiable appetite for tax revenue, states are attempting to impose “business activity taxes” on businesses that have no clearly-defined presence within the state. A clear, legal definition of nexus is needed so that businesses can understand when and where they can expect to be taxed. Such a definition is a legitimate role for the federal government in facilitating interstate commerce, and not a violation of federalism.

This Desktop Reference will help state legislators identify effective actions that may save the states money without reducing access to needed medicines.

Of all the recent criticisms leveled at the prescription drug industry, the one that has resonated most is that drug companies are gaming the patent system. However, the Hatch-Waxman Act that governs the role between generics and brand name drugs is very complicated, and it has ultimately weakened intellectual property protections. It is naive to assume that branded companies are sidestepping the rules while generics always play fair.

The telecom industry has changed in ways not anticipated by the Telecom Act of 1996. A variety of innovative technologies such as voice over IP, e-mail, instant messaging, and wireless are competing with traditional telecom providers. These technologies are now commonly being substituted for traditional voice telephony, ensuring an abundance of competition in the telecom sector today and into the future, and making prior methods of measuring competition obsolete.

The pharmaceutical industry is under political attack for being “too profitable,” for drug prices that are “too high,” for paying their CEOs “too much,” and for “profiting from pain.” Yet, when compared to other industries, it becomes clear that the pharmaceutical industry makes a compelling, socially-beneficial product, and performs within reason for an industry that takes enormous financial risks.