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

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

Senior group halting trips to purchase drugs from Canada

From the West Central Tribune (Minn.):
The Minnesota senior citizens' group that for a dozen years organized regular trips north to Canada to buy cheaper prescription drugs may have made its last run.

On Friday, the Minnesota Senior Federation's bus ferried 26 customers to a pharmacy in Winnipeg, where government controls keep prices lower than in the United States.

But a new Medicare drug benefit for older and disabled Americans, plus a stronger Canadian dollar, have slashed in half what had been $1 billion in annual cross-border sales. Half of Canada's 140 or so mail-order pharmacies have gone out of business.

Still, Senior Federation executive director Lee Graczyk said people "are still getting gouged on drug prices." ...more