Campaign For Personal Prescription Importation (CPPI), New National Patient Advocacy Organization, Launches Today

WASHINGTON, April 28, 2015 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- A new national nonprofit patient advocacy organization, Campaign for Personal Prescription Importation (CPPI), has launched today to advocate for Americans' access to safe, affordable prescription medications from Canada for personal use.

Tens of millions of Americans – especially the elderly and others on fixed incomes – struggle to pay the extremely high price of prescription medications in the U.S.  In fact, the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics reported that prescription pharmaceutical spending increased 13 percent in 2014 to reach a record high of $374 billion.

The comparison of pharmaceutical costs between the U.S. and Canada is dramatic.  According to a PBS NewsHour report last year, the U.S. spends nearly $1,000 per person on pharmaceuticals, which is approximately 40 percent higher than Canada.  An earlier report from the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) found that U.S. per capita spending on pharmaceuticals was more than twice the average spent in other OECD countries, including Canada.

The high cost of pharmaceuticals in the U.S. has dire consequences.  The same PBS NewsHour report showed that one in five Americans skipped their medications or didn't fill a prescription because of cost in 2013.  This echoes a January 2015 report from The Commonwealth Fund that found 35 million Americans ages 19-64 didn't fill a prescription due to cost in 2014.  Skipping necessary medications can lead to potentially harmful medical consequences for the patient and increased costs for the healthcare system and taxpayers when these patients require additional and/or emergency medical care.

CPPI has been founded to advocate for Americans to have access to affordable prescription medications for personal use, imported from licensed and regulated pharmacies in Canada.  Specifically, this would include health maintenance medications taken by millions on a daily basis to manage chronic health conditions, but exclude controlled substances and acute-care medications.

The new organization is being led by Bryan Tackett, a health care and economic policy expert in Washington who previously worked on Wall Street and served in the office of Representative Jared Polis (D-CO).

"Millions of Americans nationwide have obtained their personal-use medications from licensed, regulated Canadian pharmacies for more than a decade, with a perfect safety record," Tackett said.  "Bipartisan legislation has been introduced repeatedly in Congress to permanently address this issue.  With U.S. prescription drug costs continuing to spiral out of control, it's time for Americans to unite and demand that Congress finalize this common-sense approach to protect and promote their constituents' health through access to affordable medications from Canada."

Citizens and organizations concerned about the high cost of prescription pharmaceuticals in the U.S. and wanting access to affordable medications from Canada can get involved with CPPI by visiting the advocacy group's new website at www.personalimportation.org.

About the Campaign for Personal Prescription Importation
The Campaign for Personal Prescription Importation (CPPI) is a national nonprofit consumer advocacy organization dedicated to protecting and promoting access to safe, affordable imported prescription medications from Canada for 90-day personal use.  CPPI supporters and members represent low- and fixed-income Americans who urgently need an alternative to the exorbitantly high cost of prescriptions in the U.S., which causes millions of Americans to skip doses, split pills in half, take daily medications on an irregular basis, or avoid filling prescriptions entirely, jeopardizing their health.  More information about CPPI can be found online at www.personalimportation.org.

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SOURCE Campaign for Personal Prescription Importation (CPPI)