Tom Grill/Corbis

Earlier this week, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid pledged that the Senate would, before year-end, debate allowing Americans to re-import US-approved prescription drugs, whether or not they come up in the health care reform debate.

Senator Reid has promised the three leading sponsors of proposed legislation which would lift the current ban on re-imports of Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved prescription drugs that their bill would receive a floor vote. The bill, sponsored by Republicans John McCain and Olympia Snowe and led by Democrat Byron Dorgan, would permit pharmacies and wholesalers licensed in the USA to import such medicines from the European Union (EU), Canada, Australia, New Zealand and Japan.

In June, Sen Reid had assured the bill's sponsors that the Senate would vote on their bill before taking up the massive health reform legislation, after they threatened to delay work on moves to authorise the FDA to regulate the tobacco industry unless they got their vote. However he now says there is insufficient time for this to take place.

But the Senate might be headed for a floor debate over the issue, possibly as soon as next week. North Dakota Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan is planning to offer his bill (S 1232) as a floor amendment to broader health care legislation. Senator Dorgan points out that the Congressional Budget Office estimates that passage of his bill would save US consumers $50 billion over the next decade, including more than $10 billion in federal government savings.

The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA), opposes Dorgan's bill "We should not pursue policies that could expose Americans to substandard drug products and potentially weaken the FDA by crippling the agency's ability to fulfill its mission in protecting public health and safety," says PhRMA.

But regardless of PhRMA's protestations, it is likely that some form of drug reimportation will be approved this year, if not in the next few weeks. Phrma's concerns about safety are generally overblown, especially given the countries from which the bill will allow drugs to be imported.

However one cannot be certain of this. I write from Europe where I am currently investigating fake drugs from China, which have gone via Egypt and by boat into southern Europe. Where they go from there is anyone's guess.

Roger Bate is the Legatum Fellow in Global Prosperity at AEI.