CANADA FEARS ROLE AS AMERICA'S 'MEDICINE CABINET'
Canadian pharmacists and patient advocates are warning that passage of a U.S. drug importation bill could threaten Canada's prescription drug supply.
According to the Canadian Pharmacists Association, concerned parties are calling on the Canadian government to "introduce an immediate and straightforward ban on the export, both bulk and retail, of prescription drugs." The association's announcement followed legislative action in the U.S., where Sens. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) and Reps. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.) and Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo.) have reintroduced the "Pharmaceutical Market Access and Drug Safety Act." The bill had been introduced last session but stalled in committee.
The bill would allow individuals to directly order medications from FDA-registered and approved Canadian pharmacies. The FDA would examine, register and inspect these facilities on a frequent basis. The bill would also allow U.S.-licensed pharmacists and wholesalers to import FDA-approved medications from a number of other industrialized nations and pass along the savings to their customers.
But these benefits could have consequences for Canadian patients, who may have fewer drugs available to them as a result, the group said.
"Patients can't afford this risk," Louise Binder, chairwoman of the Best Medicines Coalition, said. "Canadians need reassurance today that prescription drugs will be there when we need them."
Marc Kealey, CEO of the Ontario Pharmacists' Association, agreed, calling the bill an "unsustainable quick-fix for the made-in-America problem of high U.S. drug costs."
"Congress is telling Americans it's OK to cherry-pick the benefits of Canada's regulated drug system and solve a domestic U.S. problem on the backs of Canadians. Canada cannot afford to become America's medicine cabinet. That threatens the security of our own drug supply and the health and well-being of Canadians," Kealey said.