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CNN Saturday Morning News
Prescription Drug Costs Drive Some to Mexico
Aired June 09, 2001 - 09:54 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
MILES O'BRIEN, CNN ANCHOR: The high cost of prescription drugs is driving some Americans south of the border. But as we learn in this report from CNN's Thelma Gutierrez, one American found his quest for inexpensive drugs landed him in trouble with the law.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
THELMA GUTIERREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On the U.S.- Mexico border, it's something that happens all the time. Thousands of Americans come to Tijuana, Mexico, to buy prescription medication, medicine that's often cheaper here.
ROSE BURGESS, MURL'S FORMER WIFE: There's a lot of elderly people, and they just don't have the money.
GUTIERREZ: Eighty-one-year-old George Murl is one of those people. His former wife, Rose Burgess, says George has prostate cancer.
BURGESS: He's had it for several years now, and he's in a lot of pain.
GUTIERREZ: Each month, the California man buys pain medication in Tijuana. But in May, George broke the law. He bought 600 Valium pills without a prescription. He landed in a Mexican state penitentiary, charged with possessing drugs with intent to sell.
AMBASSADOR MARTHA LARA, CONSUL GENERAL OF MEXICO: What is clear is that he committed a crime, and the laws have to be applied.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
GEORGE MURL, CANCER PATIENT: Sure, I did something wrong. But not to the extent of my punishment.
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GUTIERREZ: But Rose says George bought the extra supply of Valium because he's moving to Ohio. She says the World War II veteran belongs in the veterans' hospital, not in jail.
BURGESS: He doesn't deserve this. He's fought for his country, ex-serviceman, and he didn't do anything wrong. He thought he was doing something for his pain. GUTIERREZ: For the first time in more than two weeks, Rose was able to see George on a television news report from Mexico.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MURL: They started to throw me in a cell, but there was too many people. They couldn't squeeze me in.
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BURGESS: It didn't even look like him. I thought, Oh, no. You know, it was like a living skeleton walking. And I couldn't believe what I saw.
GUTIERREZ: George says he's lost 25 pounds here, and he refuses to eat.
MURL: I'm not going to eat until I hit the American side. If I don't hit the American side, they can carry me over in a box.
GUTIERREZ: There are 7,000 inmates in a prison designed for only 1,500.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
MURL: I laid on a wet cement floor, no blanket. The next two nights, I stood up against the cell holding my arms for 12, 14 hours.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
LARA: This is a very tragic situation, and I certainly hope that it will be arranged soon.
GUTIERREZ: He has since been moved to a Mexican hospital, where he will remain until his case is heard. But Rose worries George may not have much time left.
BURGESS: I want him to come back alive.
GUTIERREZ: Thelma Gutierrez, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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