Friday, September 12, 2003

From HealthCentral.com:
U.S. Moves to Shut Companies Selling Imported Drugs
"It seems to be that there is very little risk that U.S. consumers will obtain faulty drugs" from Canada, said F. M. Scherer, a pharmaceutical industry expert who is a professor emeritus at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government.

The FDA, Scherer said, has failed to provide evidence "necessary to judge whether there is indeed a 'potentially hazardous' situation. The FDA may be crying wolf."

From CNN:
Feds target firm importing Canadian drugs
Citing "significant risks to public health," Justice Department lawyers asked a federal judge Thursday to stop Tulsa, Oklahoma-based Rx Depot from importing prescription drugs from Canada and selling them in the U.S. at reduced prices.

The Justice Department, acting on behalf of the Food and Drug Administration, alleged that Rx Depot, its sister company Rx Canada and the firm's top officials, including company president Carl Moore, violated several laws and risked public health of consumers.

From the Newark (NJ) Star Ledger:
At the center of a storm
Call it the Showdown at the Rx Corral.

On Tuesday, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration will meet with the mayor of Springfield, Mass., to debate reimportation -- the controversial practice of buying cheap prescription drugs from Canada and elsewhere.

From the Charleston (WV) Gazette:
Canada prescription drugs in Justice’s sights
Kevin Outterson, a West Virginia University professor specializing in health law, said this year’s spike in enforcement actions against the storefronts is definitely encouraged by the pharmaceutical industry.

“They’ve been itching for enforcement for years,” he said, but the government has been reluctant to crack down on senior citizens. “The storefront owners are the easiest target.”

“With one or two prescriptions out of millions of prescriptions, the FDA has not proven that the Canadian market is any less safe than the U.S. market,” Outterson said. “The truth is, they can find similar examples any day in the domestic U.S. market.”

From the Indy Channel (IN):
Store Offering Canadian Drugs Resists Shutdown Efforts
As state and federal groups try to shut Rx Depot down, Carl Moore has a message for them: We'll go all the way to the Supreme Court to stay open.

Moore is president of a company that owns Rx Depot, a new Indianapolis store that helps people buy lower-cost prescription drugs from Canada. The Indiana Board of Pharmacy, which says such stores aren't safe because they're not regulated, has asked Indiana's attorney general to shut it down.

From the Boulder (CO) Daily Camera:
Rx of Canada plans to open
Asked whether she planned to open the doors to her business, Rx of Canada, in Boulder today — despite a federal effort to shut down operations like hers — Trudy Pueppke's voice filled with resolve.

"You bet," she said. "We're going to be open for business (today)."

No comments: