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

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

Canadian drug sales slow

From the Philadelphia Inquirer:
Ann Griffith doesn't fit the stereotype of a criminal.

At 81, the Plymouth Meeting resident has been buying the thyroid medication Synthroid for three years from a Canadian Internet pharmacy. She shaved 40 percent off the U.S. price.

But from July to September, the Food and Drug Administration detained three of her packages at the Seattle-Tacoma airport. Agency letters stopped short of accusing her of breaking the law but required her to write or travel personally to Washington state to prove that the packages were legal.

"These laws are designed to protect you," one letter said.

Griffith, who said she never had any health problems with Canadian drugs, scoffed at the agency's actions. "The big drug companies don't want to lose anything," she said. "That's the whole thing."

Canadian drug sales to U.S. patients like Griffith were once a hot trend. But a variety of factors have stifled this continental trade, making it more like curling than hockey. Drug firms such as Pfizer Inc. and GlaxoSmithKline P.L.C. have threatened to cut off supplies to Canadian pharmacies catering to the U.S. market. ...more

Canadian drug imports shrink in half from 2004

From the Detroit News:
The once-booming business of selling Canadian prescription drugs to Americans has shrunk in half since 2004-05 as the surging Canadian dollar and better U.S. government health insurance erode the price gap.

Annual sales have slipped below $500 million Canadian, down from nearly $1 billion Canadian in 2004, according to figures supplied by the Canadian International Pharmacy Association, which represents Internet and mail-order drugstores.

The figures include sales of drugs to Americans from third countries, mainly in Europe, but brokered by Canadian pharmacies. ...more

Drug import limits stand

From the Birmingham (AL) News:
The Senate voted on Monday to preserve current restrictions on the importation of lower-cost prescription drugs from Canada and other countries, fearing that such imports could pose risks to consumers, even with new safeguards.

By a vote of 49 to 40, the Senate approved a measure saying that imports will not be allowed unless the secretary of health and human services first certifies that they "pose no additional risk to the public's health and safety," and that they will significantly reduce costs to consumers. Alabama's Republican Sens. Richard Shelby and Jeff Sessions voted against the measure.

Consumer advocates have long favored such imports as a way to make medicines more affordable. But health officials in the Clinton and Bush administrations have blocked such efforts, saying they cannot guarantee the safety of imported medicines. ...more

U.S. Senate guts latest attempt to legalize bulk drug imports from Canada

From the Canadian Press:
The U.S. Senate gutted the latest attempt Monday to legalize prescription drug imports from Canada and other countries.

Despite a lot of support for the plan from both Democrats and Republicans, senators ultimately decided to require that the Food and Drug Administration first certify the imports are safe and effective.

Federal officials have said for years they can’t do it. So the requirement, passed on a 49-40 vote, effectively quashed the imports effort.

Even if the bid for expanding the drug trade had made it through without any caveats, the administration said it would have recommended a veto from President George W. Bush. ...more

Bid to allow drug imports advances - Los Angeles Times

From the Los Angeles Times:
The Senate, giving a boost to a measure long favored by congressional Democrats, opened the door Thursday to letting American consumers save money on prescription medicines by ordering them from Canada and other developed countries where prices are lower.

But the move could have an unintended side effect — derailing a long-awaited, bipartisan effort to improve the Food and Drug Administration's faltering system for protecting patients from potentially dangerous medications. The reform plan includes increased funding for drug safety and the creation of a nationwide computer surveillance system designed to spot problems with medications.

The proposed improvements were developed in response to highly publicized safety lapses, including the belated withdrawal of the diabetes drug Rezulin and the painkiller Vioxx. ...more