McCain adviser sees drug import challenges

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Finding a way to safely let U.S. patients buy cheaper medicines from other countries will be a challenge, a health adviser to Republican presidential candidate John McCain told Reuters on Monday.

"I won't say that it can't be done, but it obviously is going to be a challenge," Gail Wilensky, an economist and adviser to McCain, said in an interview.

McCain advocates importation as a way to lower drug prices, as does his Democratic rival, Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. Drugmakers including Pfizer Inc, GlaxoSmithKline Plc and others strongly oppose the practice, arguing it could expose patients to unsafe drugs.

The recent deaths of patients given tainted supplies of the blood-thinner heparin made in China highlight the difficulty in ensuring safety measures are followed along the supply chain, Wilensky said.

The incident "is a reminder it is hard to have the same kind of oversight in production overseas," said Wilensky, a senior fellow at Project Hope, a health education foundation.

Importation would likely average out the cost of medicines by lowering U.S. prices and raising them in other countries, Wilensky said.

McCain, an Arizona senator also wants to promote use of generic drugs, including generic versions of costly biotech medicines, Wilensky said.

(Reporting by Lisa Richwine; editing by Tim Dobbyn and Carol Bishopric)