Rhode Island The First State To License Canadian Drug Imports

[NATO AIR]

interesting... it seems like they will be protecting the consumer and getting a cheaper price at the same time

http://www.boston.com/dailynews/366/region/State_OKs_drug_imports_from_Ca:.shtml

State OKs drug imports from Canada
By Associated Press, 12/31/2004 10:26

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) The state Health Department has approved regulations allowing Rhode Island to license Canadian pharmacies, making the state the first in the nation to take such a step to help seniors get cheaper prescription drugs.

The new regulations were filed Thursday at the secretary of state's office and will take effect in 20 days. Barring a legal challenge, their approval means Rhode Island residents will be able to import through the mail or by private shipper prescription medications from Canada by the end of January.

The Health Department was forced to amend the rules that govern the licensing of pharmacies in other states that sell prescriptions to Rhode Island after the state Legislature passed a law this summer allowing the licensing of Canadian pharmacies.

In the two-page out-of-state section, department regulators have twice added the phrase ''or province of Canada.''

The federal Food and Drug Administration opposes importing prescription drugs, saying it cannot guarantee the safety of medicines sold through foreign pharmacies.

Rhode Island's new law conflicts with the federal ban on drug importation, but it is unclear whether the FDA will take action against the state.

The agency has not stopped states from setting up Internet sites to help consumers buy drugs through Canadian pharmacies and it hasn't, so far, gone after cities and towns, including Boston and Springfield, Mass., that have been purchasing drugs from Canada for their employees and retirees.

Attorney General Patrick Lynch has said he won't block the Rhode Island law from being implemented, but has warned that the law might violate federal statutes. He has also, however, called on the federal government to permit and regulate the importation of drugs from abroad.

Prescriptions drugs are often cheaper in Canada and other countries because of government price controls. Congress has considered legalizing the importing of prescription drugs but has met strong opposition from the administration and the pharmaceutical industry.

In Rhode Island, the debate has been intense as seniors lobby for relief from soaring drug prices. Scores of residents have taken bus trips across the border to buy the medicines, and Secretary of State Matt Brown has gone on some of those journeys himself.

In May, Tom Ryan, the chief executive officer of the national drugstore operator CVS Corp., based in Woonsocket, R.I., told a federal task force he'd support drug imports, so long as the system is safe.

Proponents insist any licensed dealer in Rhode Island will be reputable.

''We're going to continue to work on the safety issues raised by some of the parties,'' Don Williams, associate director for health-services regulation with the state Health Department, told The Providence Journal.

Opponents, including representatives of the pharmaceutical industry and the Rhode Island Pharmacists Association, maintain that the new law will lead to unsafe drugs, job losses and a breakdown in patients' relationships with their medication provider.