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Canadian Pharmacies Say U.S. Seizing More Shipments
Feb. 13, 2006 - Canadian pharmacies say the U.S.
has increased the seizure of drug shipments to their two million
customers in this country, but custom officials deny any stepped up
activity. Some Canadians think efforts have increased since the
beginning of the Medicare drug program on Jan. 1, according to a report
by KaiserNet.org.
 Prescription Drugs | Canadian Pharmacies Say
U.S. Intercepting More Drug Shipments
[Feb 13, 2006]
The
Los Angeles Times on Saturday examined how the U.S. government
appears to be "stepping up seizures" of prescription drugs ordered by
U.S. residents from Canada, according to Canadian pharmacies.
While ordering drugs from abroad is illegal,
U.S. Customs and Border Protection and
FDA officials have "generally allowed the practice," the Times
reports. Canadian pharmacies serve about two million U.S residents in an
$800 million market, according to the Times.
Some Canadian pharmacies have seen four- to
five-fold increases in the number of seizures, while an informal survey
of 30 Canadian pharmacies showed that the increase in the number of
seizures started in November 2005, doubled in December 2005 and doubled
again in January.
Occasionally, FDA conducts "blitzes" at
international mail centers with the help of Customs officials and then
analyzes the seized drugs and "publiciz[es] their findings in an effort
to warn mail-order customers about the risks of getting the wrong
medication, poor-quality standards or counterfeits," according to the
Times.
When prescription drug orders are seized, the
people who ordered them usually are not cited and can get them replaced
free of charge by the pharmacies.
Barney Britton, president of Calgary-based
MinitDrugs, said he thinks the latest seizures are meant to coincide
with the Jan. 1 launch of the Medicare prescription drug benefit. He
said, "I think ... that (U.S. authorities) see an opportunity. They know
that this would probably be the most vulnerable time for us." Britton
said that there were 800 seizures of his company's products in January,
when a typical month used to bring about 15 seizures.
Comments
Federal regulators say that their policy has not changed and there has
not been a crackdown.
Customs spokesperson Lynn Hollinger said, "It's not
a special effort other than our normal enforcement."
Andy Troszok, president of the
Canadian International Pharmacy Association and owner of
Extended Care Pharmacy in Calgary, said that a sudden, unannounced
policy of increased enforcement would be irresponsible. He said, "It's
an issue of patient safety. We're not talking about Viagra and narcotics
abuse. We are talking about people with breast cancer, heart disease and
diabetes and are established on medication."
Troszok added, "Who is going to be liable for these
people going off medical regimens and suffering or even dying?" (Girion,
Los Angeles Times, 2/11).
"Reprinted with
permission from kaisernetwork.org (insert hyperlink to http://www.kaisernetwork.org).
You can view the entire
Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, and sign up
for email delivery at
www.kaisernetwork.org/dailyreports/healthpolicy. The Kaiser
Daily Health Policy Report is published for
kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family
Foundation. © 2006 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation.
All rights reserved.”
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