Internet drug purchases included in spending bills

From the Associated Press:
The Senate dealt a blow to the drug lobby Thursday by voting to permit people in the United States to order lower-cost drugs from Canada over the Internet.

The prescription drug plan, by Sen. David Vitter, R-La., passed the Senate by a 55-36 vote that added it to a $42.9 billion bill funding the Homeland Security Department. The Senate then approved the homeland security measure by a 84-6 vote Thursday night.

Critics said Vitter's amendment would open a gaping loophole that would expose people to Internet scams and unsafe drugs, but the allure of importing U.S.-made drugs from other countries where government policies have driven prices lower has long had a pull on lawmakers.

But so too has the drug lobby, which has always defeated attempts to allow consumers widespread access to "reimported" drugs. Several Democratic leaders, including Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada and his top lieutenant, Dick Durbin of Illinois, initially opposed Vitter's amendment, only switching their votes after it became clear the popular idea would pass.

Their doubts about the idea may ensure the drug importation rule gets dropped during House-Senate negotiations on a final bill. Currently, U.S. travelers may return with a three-month supply of drugs when crossing the border. ...more

Foreign drugs can be a risk or a bargain

From the Los Angeles Times:
Obtaining low-cost drugs from Canada, Mexico and other foreign countries is a controversial method for shaving prescription expenses.

In most instances it is illegal, but authorities often take a "don't ask, don't tell" approach to the practice as long as consumers are purchasing nonnarcotic drugs for personal use.

Residents of border states such as Michigan and California have frequented foreign pharmacies for years. Buying from abroad via the Internet or mail order carries additional risk, experts warn, because consumers can't be sure of the source of the drugs.

This month, Sens. Byron L. Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Olympia J. Snowe (R-Maine) introduced drug importation legislation that creates a legal and regulated system for buying drugs from foreign countries. ...more

Drug Imports May Become Legal in U.S. Under Obama, McCain Plans

From Bloomberg:
Americans may soon be able to buy cheap drugs imported from other countries without fear of breaking the law, now that a five-year push in Congress for new rules has gained support in President Barack Obama’s budget.

A proposal to allow drug imports was introduced today by Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican defeated by Obama for the presidency, along with Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan, of North Dakota, and Republican Senator Olympia Snowe, of Maine. Obama called for the changes in his budget last week, and views the measure as one way to reduce health-care costs so that medical coverage for the uninsured can be expanded.

Brand-name drugs in other countries cost as much as 70 percent less than in the U.S. Allowing imports would save Americans $50 billion over the next decade, including $10 billion for the U.S. government, the lawmakers said. Dorgan and Snowe previously introduced similar legislation opposed by the pharmaceutical industry and former President George W. Bush. ...more

Cross-border medicine trade back in spotlight

From the Globe and Mail:
U.S. President Barack Obama's $3.55-trillion (U.S.) budget included one sentence that could reopen a long simmering debate in Canada - how much access Americans should have to inexpensive medicines from Canada.

For years, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has made it difficult for Americans to import drugs from other countries, including Canada, citing concerns about safety. But that has not stopped many Internet pharmacies from sprouting up on this side of the border, offering a wide range of prescription and non-prescription drugs, usually at lower prices. Price controls and a lower dollar have kept medicine prices generally lower in Canada compared with the United States.

The Internet cross-border business has been estimated as close to $1-billion (Canadian) and peaked several years ago when the Canadian dollar traded well below 70 cents (U.S). Business has trailed off in recent years as the dollar strengthened and changes were made to some U.S. drug plans for senior citizens.

Yesterday, Mr. Obama signalled in his budget that his administration supports efforts to open up the cross-border medicine trade. One section, titled "Lower Drug Costs and Improves Food and Medical Product Safety," noted that the budget "supports the Food and Drug Administration's new efforts to allow Americans to buy safe and effective drugs from other countries." ...more

Prescription drugs: more business for Canadian online pharmacies?

From CBC News:
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration still says "don't do it." The "it" being buying prescription drugs from Canadian — or any other foreign — online pharmacy.

The official line is that if you're an American buying drugs online, you could be paying for:

* Counterfeit drugs.
* Medicine that's too strong or two weak.
* Drugs made in unsafe conditions.
* Drugs that are beyond their best-before date.

The FDA says there's nothing wrong with buying online, as long as the website is located in the United Prescription drugs being measured out.States, is licensed by the state board of pharmacy where the site is operating, has a licensed pharmacist on hand to answer your questions and requires a prescription from a doctor who is licensed to practice in the United States. ...more

Canadian supplier drops out of Illinois governor's drug-import plan

From Metro News:
The Canadian supplier of low-cost drugs to Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich's drug-import program has dropped out, saying state officials are just paying lip service to its promotion.

Pegasus Health Services Ltd. of Calgary says it has filled its last prescription for I-SaveRx - a lower-cost prescription drug program that Blagojevich has trumpeted as an effort to help people.

But U.S. law prohibits imports of foreign drugs and the creation of the program is among the impeachment charges against Blagojevich.

The Illinois governor is boycotting the state senate's trial over his ouster.

Company official Lewis Jorgenson says the program cost Pegasus hundreds of thousands of dollars, but Illinois and the four other states that joined showed no follow-through.

He would not specify how much the company - the only vendor for I-SaveRx - has lost, but says the last prescription was filled Dec. 31.

"It looks good in the press, that they're starting the I-Save program, but they just talk about it, there's no action, so it's just a waste of everybody's time," Jorgenson told The Associated Press on Monday. ...more

Judge Finds Consultant on Canadian Drug Sales in Contempt

From the Billings (MT) Gazette:
A state district judge today found Billings businessman Tom Kennedy in contempt of court for helping people buy low-cost drugs from Canadian pharmacies and fined him $4,000.

District Judge Kathy Seeley of Helena said Kennedy could avoid arrest by paying the civil fine and halting his business, known as Canadian Connection.

After a two-hour hearing on the case this morning, she said Kennedy "blatantly failed to follow" a 2004 court order that said he was violating state law by helping unregistered pharmacies sell drugs in the state.

Kennedy said after the hearing that he would close his business. ...more

State seeks to shut down broker of Canadian drugs

I guess there are still a few of these affiliate storefronts still open...

From the Missoulian (MT):
Tom Kennedy, whose Billings business helps Montanans buy lower-cost prescription drugs from Canada, acknowledges that he's been ignoring a 2004 court order that says he's breaking state law and should halt his business.

But it's taken until this week for the state Board of Pharmacy to bring Kennedy before a state judge, asking that he be found in contempt of court and fined.

Kennedy, who runs a business called Canadian Connection, remains defiant, saying the 2004 court order against him is incorrect and that the state board is simply trying to shut down legitimate competition.

“They don't want anybody else selling Montana consumers drugs except them,” he said. “They're impeding the ability of Montana citizens to buy basically the same drugs for greatly reduced prices.”

Kennedy, who's representing himself in court, is scheduled to appear Thursday before state District Judge Kathy Seeley of Helena.

The Board of Pharmacy will argue that it's been determined by a judge that Kennedy's business is breaking the law. The only remaining questions are whether he should be found in civil contempt and fined, said Mike Fanning, the state attorney representing the board. ...more

Rx plan cuts Montgomery County costs nearly in half

From the Schenectady (NY) Daily Gazette:
The cost of prescription medications for employees of Montgomery County and the city of Amsterdam has been cut nearly in half since they began participating in the CanaRx prescription drug plan.

More than 5,000 prescriptions have been issued since the program’s start in 2006 for participants, according to statistics provided by CSEA Local 829 President Eddie Russo.

The cost for 5,403 prescriptions under a typical U.S. prescription plan is estimated at $1.97 million, but instead cost roughly $1 million through the end of October, according to the report from CanaRx.

Including employees, their family members and retired employees, 1,474 people are covered under the Canadian drug plan. ...more

Union says medicine from Canada could save East Hampton big bucks

While the city of Boston is cutting off their Canadian drug program, the town of East Hampton, New York is investigating the possibility of setting up a Canadian importation program of their own. It's a bit hard to believe that a government would be looking at doing this now. I think this town is four or five years behind the curve.

From 27 East (NY):
Hoping to convince East Hampton Town lawmakers not to switch town employees’ health benefits to a state-administered insurance plan, leaders of the Civil Service Employees Association have proposed turning to a Canadian mail-order prescription drug supplier to cut costs.

Representatives from the Civil Service Employees of America and CanaRx, a firm that provides name-brand prescription drugs from Canada at a deep discount, claim that using the Canadian company could save the town some $490,000 a year, based on town employees’ current number of prescriptions, and allow the town to continue self-insuring its civil service employees.

But Supervisor Bill McGintee said the prescription drug savings proposed are not enough to match the potential savings that changing medical plans would bring the cash-strapped town. He said that switching from the current self-insured medical benefits to a plan offered by Empire Blue Cross/Blue Shield, a state-administered health insurance organization, could save the town $1.5 million in 2009. ...more

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

Canadian drugstores are losing U.S. sales

From the Newark (NJ) Star Ledger:
Anthony Iwaszko used to fill his prescriptions through mail-order pharmacies in Canada, where he found the prices for his costly hypertension and cholesterol medicines were substantially lower.

Now, the 73-year-old retired Belmar resident purchases all of his medicines in the United States.

"I stopped buying from Canada about two years ago when I was able to get the new Medicare Part D prescription drug coverage," Iwaszko said.

Only a few years ago, there was a mass movement by senior citizens to "remiport" drugs from Canada, where many brand-name medicines cost half of what they sold for at pharmacies in the United States. Canadian pharmacies were frequent advertisers in newspapers and on websites.

Today, more and more seniors like Iwaszko have given up buying their medicine from Canada. By some estimates, the flow of prescription drugs across the border has been cut in half over the past few years.

"The business certainly has decreased," said Gord Haugh, head of the Canadian International Pharmacists Association. "At the height of business about three or four years ago, we were probably approaching about a billion dollars in sales, and I think it is probably down now to between $400 million and $500 million." ...more

Drug import plan eyed

From the (Springfield, Mass.) Republican:
A city councilor said last night he will push the state to change its policy and let the city buy prescription drugs from Canada to save money, free up a revenue source and allow for the rescinding of the trash fee.

But other officials said multiple hurdles await such a move including that it is still illegal to import prescription drugs and opposition to the move by the head of a key state agency.

City Councilor James J. Ferrera III has pitched ending the fee of $90 a year per trash barrel, which has been unpopular with many people since its inception on July 1.

Ferrera answered challenges about how he would replace the trash fee's $3.5 million to $5 million in yearly revenue by saying the city could look into saving money by revisiting the Canadian prescription drug option.

In a maverick move that gained Springfield national attention in 2003, city employees and retirees were given the option of buying cheaper prescription drugs from Canada. ...more

FDA warns Duluth about presciption importation from Canada

From the Rochester (Minn.) Post Bulletin:
The Food and Drug Administration has warned the city of Duluth that a program to import prescription drugs from Canada and save money for city workers is unsafe and most likely violates federal law.

In a letter to Duluth Mayor Don Ness, the FDA warned that any packages sent to employees would likely be detained by U.S. Custom and Border Protection.

Ness, who inherited the program from former mayor Herb Bergson, said he would keep because it would continue to save the city taxpayer money on health costs -- up to $2 million a year, he said.

"If the FDA cannot give a definitive answer that this is illegal, that demonstrates the question is still out there," Ness told the Duluth News Tribune . "I'm hopeful that the federal government will address their own policy that seems to be designed to protect the profit margins of drug companies at the expense of the American citizen."

Importing prescription drugs from Canada has been hotly debated in Minnesota and the country the last few years. Gov. Tim Pawlenty was one of the first governors in the nation to implement a drug import program, and his administration has joined numerous government entities in ignoring similar letters from the FDA. ...more

Cost is the real drug threat

From the Los Angeles Times:
In his weekend radio address, President Bush warned of rogue pharmacists making potentially dangerous prescription drugs readily available online.

"The Internet has brought about tremendous benefits for those who cannot easily get to a pharmacy in person," Bush said. "However, it has also created an opportunity for unscrupulous doctors and pharmacists to profit from addiction."

That's undoubtedly true, as are most observations that the Internet has become a hotbed of fraud and flimflammery. And I think we can all agree that patients should see doctors face to face, rather than via an online chat or survey, before receiving prescriptions for painkillers and other such meds.

But Dr. Bush is addressing a symptom and not the cause of one of the country's top medical problems. ...more

CanaRx president says Canadian drugs shortage unlikely

From the Windsor (Ont.) Star:
Fears of a prescription drug shortage in Canada are rising now that it's all but certain the next U.S. president will allow Americans to import cheaper Canadian drugs.

But a Windsorite whose company sells prescription drugs to Americans, and inspired a Simpsons episode for it, says the fears are all hype.

"Making it easier to import international medications would not have a significant impact to Canada at all, or its supply," said Tony Howard, president of CanaRx. "What the three candidates are doing will not jeopardize Canada's supply at all."

It's illegal in the U.S. for Americans to import prescription drugs from other countries, and President George Bush has opposed changing that.

But all three major U.S. presidential candidates -- Democratic rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton and Republican John McCain -- have said they'd allow it. ...more

U.S. election raises issue of drug supply in Canada

From the National Post:
All three major candidates for U.S. president are promising to make it legal for Americans to import cheaper Canadian drugs, raising concerns about a southern outflow of medicine that could threaten the pharmaceutical supply here.

With the next president already on side, observers say long-delayed U.S. legislation to open up the cross-border prescription drug trade is now much closer to reality.

Internet pharmacies on this side of the border say legalization -- if it happens -- would certainly give their businesses a boost after a downturn in the past few years, but deny Canadians would see any impact.

But others argue that legalized importation in the United States could result in shortages here of drugs and pharmacists, who might abandon Canadian customers to cater to the U.S. market, and delay introduction of new products in this country. ...more

Mexico pharmacies targeted

You can tell it's an election year in the United States. Over the last year, very little was heard about states working with foreign pharmacies. Now we are starting to hear about Canadian pharmacies again. The article below is the first mention I've seen of a state wanting to work with Mexican pharmacies.

From the (Phoenix) Arizona Republic:
Several states have direct links to Canadian pharmacies to ensure their citizens have access to less expensive prescription drugs.

Yet no state has such formal ties through Web sites or state-sponsored programs to pharmacies in Mexico.

But residents of Arizona and other Southwestern states routinely visit border towns such as Los Algodones near Yuma to buy prescription drugs at large pharmacies catering to tourists.

Now, Gov. Janet Napolitano and her counterparts on both sides of the U.S.-Mexican border have floated an idea that would scrutinize the safety of prescription drugs sold in Mexican border towns. They want to create a cross-border testing and inspection program to ensure drug safety.

Napolitano has initiated talks with Bush administration officials on what it would take to launch such a pilot program with cooperation on both sides of the border. ...more

City offers voluntary plan for imported prescription drugs

I didn't realize that cities and states were trying to set up deals with Canadian pharmacies anymore. Duluth seems to be a bit behind the curve on this issue.

From the Duluth (Minn.) News Tribune:
Beginning Monday, city of Duluth employees, dependents and retirees will have a new option for buying brand-name prescription drugs — with the potential of large cost savings for themselves and taxpayers.

Under the voluntary plan, the Canadian firm CanaRx will deliver imported drugs packaged by the original manufacturer directly to people who ordered them. The plan was announced Thursday morning at a City Hall news conference. ...more

Dozens of drug Web sites falsely claiming certification by professional groups

From the South Florida Sun-Sentinel:
The Better Business Bureau and other professional groups are complaining to federal regulators that some Internet pharmacies are falsely claiming they are certified by their organizations, leaving dissatisfied consumers with nowhere to turn.

Most customers said they never received medications they ordered or got drugs that appeared questionable.

The certifying groups learned of the misrepresentations — by dozens of Web sites — when online drug shoppers called to complain about sites they assumed had been approved or were members of the organization. "The numbers just started to add up. These sites are ripping people off," said Gabriel Levitt, vice president of PharmacyChecker.com, whose company certifies 228 Internet pharmacies and offers a Web-based price-comparison tool. Levitt said he had received about 100 complaints within the past 18 months about Web sites using fake PharmacyChecker seals and logos, apparently used to suggest a site's legitimacy. ...more