Canada 'Nowhere Near' Internet Pharmacy Clampdown

OTTAWA (Reuters) - Canada said on Friday it was "nowhere near" deciding how to clamp down on Internet pharmacies that send cheap medicine to the United States, often without Canadian doctors having seen the patients.

Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh, who says the practice is immoral, is studying several options on how to restrict a trade worth around C$850 million ($710 million) a year.

"I'm nowhere near a decision," he told reporters after a cabinet meeting in Ottawa.

The cross-border business, which directly employs 4,000 people, has attracted the interest of U.S. governors, mayors and senators as a way of cutting burgeoning medical costs south of the border. Canada sets limits on how much pharmaceutical firms can charge for their drugs.