Canada drug-buying programs are working outside North America

JOANN LOVIGLIO

Associated Press

PHILADELPHIA - Advocacy groups from several northern states and Canadian pharmacy executives said Friday that Canadian drug purchasing programs already are working with countries outside North America to provide cheaper prescriptions for U.S. customers.

The groups, in Philadelphia during the annual joint conference of the American Society on Aging and The National Council on the Aging, would not disclose the countries or companies out of concerns that they could be legally targeted by American pharmaceutical firms.

"The tentacles of the pharmaceutical industry ... have an amazing reach," said Michelle Niemer of United Senior Action in Indianapolis.

They did say that there are more than two dozen countries that could eventually be included.

Groups from Indiana, Minnesota, Wisconsin, New York, Pennsylvania and Oregon are among those that help elderly and other consumers purchase drugs from Canada by recommending pharmacies there, where price controls typically keep costs lower.

Canadian mail-order pharmacies last year supplied an estimated $2 billion worth of prescriptions to 1 million Americans.

Now, advocates and Canadian companies - after looking at operations in the European Union, Australia and New Zealand, where regulations also keep prices lower - have forged partnerships in some of those places to ensure continued supply and patient safety.

"We did the due diligence," said Andy Troszok, president of Extended Care Pharmacy in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, and president of the Canadian International Pharmacy Association. "We know that the world is plagued with counterfeit drugs from Thailand, but that's being used an excuse (by drug import opponents)."

Consumers who get prescription drugs from Canada also are told whether the medication actually came from somewhere else, said Lee Graczyk of the Minnesota Senior Federation.

The groups' efforts are separate from state government programs that direct residents to Canadian pharmacies. But the state programs have similar concerns and priorities, said Caleb Weaver, project manager of Illinois' I-Save Rx Program.

"American consumers aren't dumb; they're going to find ways to get the drugs they need," he said. "Our imperative is to help consumers find what they need and ensure that they're safe."

Canada is acting as the conduit for the other countries' imports because the other places don't yet have export and distribution systems in place - but some likely will be able to directly offer their own drug purchasing programs soon, Graczyk said.

The Bush administration opposes importation of drugs from Canada and other countries, arguing the practice is unsafe. Importing drugs into the United States is technically illegal, but the Food and Drug Administration generally does not stop small amounts purchased for personal use.

The supply of some drugs from Canada has already decreased, as U.S. manufacturers cut off sales to Canadian pharmacies that sell to American customers, and the Canadian government is mulling several proposals that could cut off Internet prescription drug sales.