McCain....

Well, I would guess there is some truth to the idea. Pharmaceutical companies pay big bucks to have their products on the market (not just promotions, etc. but the cost of getting a drug or product through the FDA, EPA, etc. is astronomical). I'm guessing they have a big say on not allowing drugs to be imported, namely because they spent money to get it through our system so they don't want to be outdone by imports that are significantly cheaper because other countries don't have a system akin to the FDA like we do, hence the ability to produce (significantly) cheaper drugs. While FDA is nice, it should be an option for companies, not a requirement. I don't think the companies are necessarily big, evil corporations, but they are manipulating the system a bit to make their profits. A six digit bribe (what it boils down to) is an easy thing for the Mercks out there to do when it means that their competition is virtually nonexistent and ensures their making tens or hundreds of millions off their drugs.