Tiahrt on drugs?

Rep. Todd Tiahrt has never met a lobbyist, corporate campaign contributor or bribe he didn’t like. What he doesn’t like is when the newspaper, such as The Wichita Eagle, April 28, 2005, exposes this fact. After all, a person taking lots of money from the drug companies can’t waist too much of their time worrying about consumers. And Tiahrt is no friend of the consumers.
That requires a written response, which obviously is a job for one of Tiahrt’s aids, since the man has trouble speaking in complete sentences. “Drug importation OK as long as certified safe” was Tiahrt’s response in the Eagle, May 15.
The issue was dug imports from Canada. The Eagle correctly pointed out that Tiahrt has squarely taken the pharmaceutical companies side, price gauging the US citizens while preventing competition from the much cheaper Canadian imports.
Tiahrt claimed he only wanted to certify that Canada’s drugs are safe. Then he claims that:
“The ‘Canada-only’ provision also allows the secretary to waive the prohibition on personal importation, on a case-by-case basis, of drugs from Canada when the drugs are for personal use and when the drugs are presented at the border.”
Analyzed more carefully, “case-by-case” would make importing a drug from Canada a nightmare of red tape. For the consumer, it would mean lengthy waiting on drugs that patients usually can’t wait for.
Tiahrt’s carefully spun (probably by an aid) response is full of holes and the usual excuses of one of the most corrupted politicians here in Kansas history. Tiahrt’s concern for the consumer would lead him to throw an anvil do drowning man, to get a campaign contribution from the anvil salesmen.