Healthy Skepticism Library item: 1375

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Publication type: news

Pfizer to Restrict Drug Sales to U.S. from Canada
Reuters 2003 Aug 6

Full text:

Pfizer Inc., the world’s biggest drugmaker, said it will cut off supplies of its products to any Canadian pharmacy that sells drugs at a discount to consumers in the United States.
The world’s biggest drugmaker, following a trend begun by GlaxoSmithKline Plc, told pharmacists in a letter dated Aug. 4 that the company will sell all drugs produced by Pfizer and its recently acquired subsidiary, Pharmacia, directly rather than through wholesalers and distributors.

The move is aimed at helping Pfizer better track where its drugs, which include the cholesterol-reducing medicine Lipitor and hypertension drug Norvasc, are being sold. Pharmacies that buy in order to resell into the United States, will be cut off.

“The objective of us having more customers as direct clients is for us to better enforce our terms of sale which are that our products are o nly to be sold in Canada for Canadian patients and that they are not for export,” said Don Sancton, a spokesman for Pfizer Canada Inc.

Pfizer is the latest big drugmaker to move to cut back on relatively cheap imports of drugs from Canada. In April AstraZeneca told its customers it would investigate any unusually big orders from its Canadian clients to make sure shipments were not being sent out of the country.

In June, Wyeth announced a similar plan.

The drug industry’s heightened monitoring comes as Congress debates the issue of importing cheaper drugs from Canada. It is illegal to import drugs from other countries, but U.S. regulators have traditionally turned a blind eye.

GlaxoSmithKline said in January it would not sell drugs to pharmacies that sold to the United States.

Canadian pharmacists, including those who sell online to poor and elderly patients in the United States, said the moves can only hurt U.S. patients who can’t afford the medicines and will put many Canadian pharmacies out of business.

“Last night we went to place an order and were told by the wholesalers that they won’t supply us with Pfizer and Pharmacia products,” said Monty Sikka, president of CanadaPharmacy.com., based in Langley, British Columbia.

Billy Shawn, the founder and chief executive of The Canadian Drugstore.com, a pioneer in shipping drugs to U.S. consumers at deep discounts, said it is becoming more difficult to find supplies for its customers.

“We’re very creative in the way we get our supply. But Pfizer is a bigger player than Glaxo, so it will be a little tougher.”