Tuesday, December 16, 2003

From Time.com:
Blame Canada
You should pay attention to New Hampshire over the next few weeks — and not just because there's a presidential primary coming up. The Republican Governor there has just brought the whole low-cost Canadian drug issue to a head by announcing that his state is going to start buying cut-rate prescription drugs for prison inmates and Medicare patients from Canadian Internet companies, perhaps as early as this week. A lot of Americans get their drugs this way, and some U.S. mayors have started doing the same for their municipal workers. But New Hampshire would be the first state to defy the Food and Drug Administration and openly break the federal law that bans such imports.

From the Portland (OR) Business Journal:
Prescription for controversy
It's been three months since Glen and Diane Bremer opened Canada Drug Services, a drug reimportation business in Tigard, but the pair has already attracted hundreds of customers and drawn fire from state regulators.

Their Canadian drug reimportation service is at the heart of a national debate over whether it's fair for American consumers to be charged two to four times what their counterparts in Canada and Europe are paying for comparable pharmaceuticals.

From CNN.com:
FDA seeks help of credit card firms
The Food and Drug Administration has contacted credit card companies and package carriers to help the agency control unapproved prescription drug imports, according to a report published Tuesday.

The FDA, which has little regulatory power over package haulers and credit card firms, is seeking to set up meetings with the companies. It hopes to stop the flow of controlled substances and counterfeit medicines, and get help in halting commercial operations that illegally import large amounts of prescription drugs, the Wall Street Journal reported.

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