Wednesday, March 31, 2004

From the Winnipeg Sun:
Growth in Net drugs
The governor of New Hampshire is the latest American politician to urge citizens with no medical insurance to buy their drugs from Canadian Internet pharmacies -- the majority of which are located in Manitoba. Gov. Craig Benson is also endorsing mail-order pharmacy CanadaDrugs.com located in Winnipeg after sending two pharmacists here last month, the Portsmouth Herald reported.

Benson and the state's human services commissioner concluded the Internet company was safe, efficient and inexpensive, despite claims to the contrary by some American drug manufacturers and pharmacists, according to the Herald.

From the Baltimore Sun:
Senate pursues drugs plan
The Maryland Senate took a step yesterday toward helping thousands of residents buy lower-cost prescription drugs from Canada, granting preliminary approval to legislation requiring state health officials to seek federal permission for an importation plan.

Prescription medications can be 50 percent cheaper in Canada, where they are purchased by the national government at a lower price. U.S. law prohibits individuals or governments from buying foreign medications, but Maryland could join a growing number of states bucking that rule.

From the Sacramento Bee:
Editorial: Canadian bandwagon
Hmmm. Is that a trend we detect? Is the pharmaceutical industry listening?

The political support for maintaining a federal law that bans the importation of prescription drugs from other countries such as Canada is crumbling. Sacramento County is among the many local and state governments that are wondering whether to openly violate this law in order to lower their skyrocketing pharmaceutical costs. (The county in its clinics dispenses more than 1,500 prescriptions every day.) Meanwhile in Washington, staunch defenders of the drug industry, such as Sen. Trent Lott of Mississippi, are softening their stand.

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