Nicole Gaudiano

USA TODAY

WASHINGTON — Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday blasted 13 Senate Democrats for lacking the “guts” to stand up to the pharmaceutical industry after they voted against a measure he pushed to help drive down drug costs by importing them from Canada.

The Vermont Independent and former Democratic presidential candidate said during a Thursday interview he plans to personally speak with the senators who opposed the measure — which failed 52-46 on Wednesday — and try to turn them around. A dozen Republicans voted in favor.

“The Democratic Party has got to make it very clear that they are prepared to stand up to powerful special interests like the pharmaceutical industry and like Wall Street, and they’re not going to win elections and they’re not going to be doing the right thing for the American people unless they have the guts to do that,” said Sanders, the leader of outreach efforts for Senate Democrats. “That 13 Democrats did not is disappointing. I absolutely hope that in the coming weeks and months you’re going to see many of them develop the courage to stand up to Pharma.”

The measure by Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., and Sanders would have allowed pharmaceutical distributors and pharmacists to import low-cost medicine from Canada and other countries. Democratic Sens. Michael Bennet of Colorado, Bob Menendez and Cory Booker of New Jersey, Maria Cantwell and Patty Murray of Washington, Tom Carper and Chris Coons of Delaware, Bob Casey of Pennsylvania, Joe Donnelly of Indiana, Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota, Jon Tester of Montana and Mark Warner of Virginia all voted against it.

Several senators said they voted for other measures to drive down drug costs and they cited safety concerns as the reason for their opposition to the Klobuchar-Sanders measure.

“The Food and Drug Administration has testified before the Senate that they are unable to certify that the mass, wholesale importation of medications from other countries, even Canada, would be safe, authentic or efficacious,” Menendez said. “Allowing unknown drugs to be imported by uncertified and unverifiedInternet pharmacies undermines that trust and puts the well-being of patients at serious risk.”

Menendez, Booker and Carper said in statements that they have previously supported bills to allow for drug importation. But Carper, pointing to instances where the FDA discovered counterfeit drugs, said “we can't afford to risk the health and well-being of our patients.”

Sanders said he agrees the medicine should be safe, but he believes that can easily be accomplished.

“If we can import vegetables and fish and poultry and beef from all corners of the Earth, please don’t tell me that we cannot bring in, from Canada and other major countries, name brand prescription drugs of some of the largest corporations in the world,” he said. “That’s a laughable statement.”

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Sanders pointed to research showing some of the highest prices in the world for drugs are in the United States. It’s encouraging, he said, that 12 Republicans voted for the measure, and he hopes more will sign on following President-elect Donald Trump’s statement Wednesday that the pharmaceutical industry is "getting away with murder" for what they charge the federal government for drugs.

“If that’s what Donald Trump can say publicly, surely these 13 Democrats can stand up to Pharma, and I intend to do everything I can to see that happen,” he said.

The Klobuchar-Sanders measure was among numerous proposed amendments — all of which failed — to a 2017 budget resolution that the Senate passed to help pave the way for a quick repeal of the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. Sanders along with House and Senate Democratic leaders, organized 40 rallies across the country for this Sunday to show grass-roots support for the law.

Sanders will attend a rally with Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer of New York in Michigan because he said the Democratic Party must reconnect with working people in the Midwest — and understand that the repeal of Obamacare can’t be defeated without grass-roots support.

“The Democrats for too many years have not had the kind of contact and interaction with working people, with elderly people, with lower income people, than they should,” Sanders said. “Too many Democrats spend too much time raising money from the wealthy rather than standing up and hearing and listening to the needs of working families. And I want to see that changed.”

Follow @ngaudiano on Twitter.