WASHINGTON, March 12 — The Senate confirmed Dr. Mark B. McClellan today to head the Medicare and Medicaid programs after he survived a controversy over prescription drug imports.
The confirmation was by a voice vote and without debate. Dr. McClellan, who has headed the Food and Drug Administration since November 2002, seemed to soften his stance a bit on Monday, when he told the Senate Finance Committee that he would work with Congress on bipartisan legislation to assure the safety of drugs imported from Canada.
"I absolutely am committed to doing that," so Americans can safely import lower-cost medicines, he told committee members.
As commissioner of food and drugs for the last 16 months, Dr. McClellan has led the Bush administration's campaign to stop unauthorized drug imports. He has said such products endanger American consumers because they are often counterfeit, mislabeled or contaminated.
But complete opposition to imports of low-cost prescription drugs had become a politically untenable position, opposed not only by Democratic senators but by some Republicans as well. Several senators had vowed to hold up the nomination over the issue.
"I cannot explain to my mother any longer why she should pay twice or two-thirds more than what is paid in Canada and Mexico," Senator Trent Lott of Mississippi, the former Republican leader, said on Monday as he announced that he was dropping his position to drug imports.
Another Republican, Senator John S. McCain of Arizona, complained earlier that "Dr. McClellan has done a great disservice by trying to frighten our citizens into believing that drugs imported from Canada are somehow hazardous or dangerous."
With his confirmation today, Dr. McClellan assumes the title of administrator of the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which provides health insurance to more than 70 million Americans.
The Republican majority leader, Senator Bill Frist of Tennessee, said today that Dr. McClellan "is an extremely bright and capable public servant. I am pleased the Senate has confirmed Dr. McClellan, providing strong leadership at this critical time."
source: http://query.nytimes.com/mem/tnt.html?tntget=2004/03/12/politics/12CND-HEAL.html&tntemail0=&pagewanted=print&position= 11mar04
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