Monday, May 17, 2004

From the Duluth (Minn.) News Tribune:
Minnesota drug plan may be illegal
A federal official said a plan by the state of Minnesota to buy drugs from Canada for state employees may be illegal.

William Hubbard, the associate commissioner for policy of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, said he will tell Gov. Tim Pawlenty in a letter that the agency is concerned about the plan.

Hubbard has already sent Pawlenty a letter about the state Web site that links Minnesotans to Canadian drug companies.

From USA Today:
U.S. drug needs would overwhelm Canada
Canada has doubled its imports of prescription drugs since 1999 — a period that saw U.S. residents increasingly buying drugs from Canada — and would be unable to meet the demand created if U.S. law allowed greater access.

That's the conclusion of a University of Texas-Austin researcher, who studied the issue at the request of two congressmen, using government data from both countries. The study, out Monday, attempts to quantify the potential impact of U.S. demand for pharmaceuticals on Canada and will likely spur further debate about opening U.S. borders to medications from abroad.

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