Dispatch - Brown criticizes DeWine for vote against drug imports

Democrat Sherrod Brown says Sen. Mike DeWine showed he was on the side of drug companies, not the side of consumers, yesterday by voting against a Senate proposal to ease the ban on importing prescription medicine.

But the Ohio Republican says he voted in favor of consumer safety.

Brown, a House member from Avon who is challenging DeWine on the November ballot, said DeWine should have joined two dozen Republicans whose backing of the proposal resulted in an easy 68-32 win for the measure. Under the bill, drugs coming in from Canada would be exempted from the imported medicine ban under certain conditions.

Brown says lifting the ban would give seniors easier access to cheaper drugs. DeWine’s six-figure contributions from the pharmaceutical industry helped influence his position, Brown said.

"It was irresponsible three years ago for Mike DeWine and his drug-company friends to force this failed (Medicare drug coverage) plan on Ohio seniors," he said in a statement. "It was immoral today for him to try and deny them the only access they have left to affordable prescription drugs."

But Mike Dawson, DeWine’s spokesman, said the senator is "concerned about the safety of the drugs coming into the country."

If border security agents are told to let imported drugs come into the country without adequate scrutiny "how can you ensure they are safe? " he asked.

— J.R.