Monday, September 29, 2008

Canadian prescription drug supplier ending Hub program

From the Boston Globe:
Four years after Mayor Thomas M. Menino bucked federal regulators and made Boston the biggest city nationally to offer low-cost Canadian prescription drugs to employees and retirees, the program has fizzled, never having attracted more than a few dozen participants.

In late July, the Canadian supplier for the program, Winnipeg-based Total Care Pharmacy, sent a letter to city officials saying the firm was terminating its agreement because there were so few participants. When the last Canadian drugs from the company are shipped to Boston retirees in December, it will mark the quiet end to an initiative that generated headlines for Menino.

Menino administration officials blamed the end of the program on a lack of interest from city retirees eligible to participate.

"If things are grossly underenrolled, that's the market saying they're not really interested in that product," said Meredith Weenick, the city's associate director of administration and finance. ...more

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