WASHINGTON - Sen. Jim Jeffords (R-Vt.) and Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) said Tuesday they will hold a press conference today to release a letter to President George W. Bush, urging him to begin implementing the drug reimportation legislation approved last year.

As part of an annual agriculture appropriations bill, former President Bill Clinton approved the amendment last November. In December, however, former secretary of Health and Human Services Donna Shalala rejected $23 million in federal funding that was appropriated for FDA implementation costs of the plan in the fiscal year 2001. (See BioWorld Today, Dec. 29, 2000.)

Earlier this year, Jeffords commissioned a legal analysis by the American Law Division of the Congressional Research Service that determined the Bush administration has the power to overturn Shalala's decision.

The House provisions would have allowed the reimportation of FDA-approved prescription drugs for personal use from countries with lower drug prices. The Senate version, sponsored by Jeffords, would permit pharmacists and wholesalers to purchase FDA-approved drugs from countries where the identical drug is sold for less. - Kim Coghill