Tuesday, March 09, 2004

From the Toronto Star:
Ottawa urged to take stand on Internet pharmacies
The federal government has to move away from its laissez-faire approach to Internet pharmacies and either ban the industry or regulate it, a pharmacy conference was told today.

As speakers and delegates debated the pros and cons of the rapidly expanding industry, many said clearer direction from Ottawa would ease the frustrations of doctors, pharmacists, regulatory bodies, patients - even online pharmacies - as they try to navigate largely unchartered waters.

From the UW Student (University of Waterloo, Ontario):
Shortage of pharmacists creates need for new school
A nation-wide shortage of pharmacists means graduates of UW's proposed school of pharmacy would be in high demand. Currently, more than two-thirds of pharmacists working in Ontario get their degrees outside of the province.

The University of Toronto, Ontario's only school of pharmacy, accepted 180 students this year, only 15% of the 1,200 applications they received.

Although demand is difficult to predict, the shortage is expected to persist at least into the foreseeable future. Canada could be short more than 2,000 pharmacists and the situation in Ontario is even worse — the Canadian Pharmacists' Association reports that Ontario has 15% fewer pharmacists per capita than the Canadian average.

From CBC.ca:
Kerry endorses cheaper pills from Canada as drug import debate heats up
Democrat John Kerry weighed in Tuesday on the prescription drug debate in the latest sign that importing cheaper medicines from Canada is fast becoming a major U.S. election issue.

Kerry, the presumed presidential candidate for his party in this fall's election, said he supports imports as he met seniors in Evanston, Ill., to outline his drug agenda. "This president promised us a prescription drug plan that would stop America's seniors from being forced to choose between their medicine and their groceries," he said.

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