It was 2001. S1229 was sent off to committee in 2001 and nothing happened:
http://www.pillinternational.com/legal1.html
There's been no change in the law. The Senate never passed a bill like the one that passed in the House.
You've got the AARP and all the senior citzen interest groups lobbying for the bills, but the drug companies have their lobbyists and campaign contributions to fight them. The drug companies want to keep our drugs expensive.