Thursday, December 11, 2003

From the Globe and Mail:
Boston approves plan to buy Canadian drugs
Boston added its name yesterday to the growing list of U.S. cities and states clamouring to buy cheap prescription drugs from Canada, renewing fears of shortages in Canadian pharmacies.

Boston councillors approved a plan at an afternoon meeting that calls for the city's 15,000 insured workers to start getting their prescriptions from Canada by July 1.

From the Metro West Daily News:
Locals behind Canada drug plan
MetroWest municipal leaders yesterday endorsed Boston's plan to import cheaper prescription drugs from Canada and said similar programs may soon be offered to local town and city employees.

But officials from the pharmacy and biotechnology industries warned such moves jeopardize the state's prescription drug users, stifle innovation and expose municipalities to myriad liabilities. The drug-buying plans also send a "dangerously" mixed message to the very biotechnology firms being courted by the commonwealth, critics say.

From the Fort Lauderdale (FL) Herald Tribune:
Boston, New Hampshire to begin Canadian drug purchases
Pharmacist Gregory Laham knows that prescription drugs are expensive. But the remedy of buying cheaper medication in bulk from Canada is a "prescription for disaster," he said.

The owner of Sullivan's Pharmacy & Medical Supply in the city's Roslindale neighborhood said buying drugs from Canada would take business away from pharmacies, bring dangerous counterfeit drugs into the county, and damage the relationship between doctors and patients, Laham said.

From the Boston Globe:
Arlington shopkeeper is pharmacy sales agent
An Arlington shopkeeper with 10 years in the medical supply business has launched a sideline to supplement his sales of orthopedic shoes and electric wheelchairs: helping Boston-area seniors import drugs from Canada.

Robert Mulcahy has signed up as an affiliate of American Drug Club, a Canadian Internet pharmacy based in Winnipeg, Manitoba, that relies on local sales agents to drum up business in exchange for a 10 percent commission.

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