Healthy Skepticism Library item: 1474

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Publication type: news

Kurt K.
Judge OKs Shutdown of Canada Drugs Firm
Associated Press 2003 Nov 7

Full text:

TULSA, Okla. – A federal judge granted the government’s request Thursday to shut down a company, operating as Rx Depot and Rx of Canada, that helps customers buy cheaper prescription drugs from Canada.

The decision by U.S. District Judge Claire Eagan is a blow to customers who use the company to purchase less expensive medicines. It also could affect cities and states nationwide that are considering allowing employees to import drugs in order to cut rising prescription costs.

An estimated 1 million to 2 million Americans already buy Canadian drugs through the Internet, storefront operations or by crossing the border.

At the request of the Food and Drug Administration (news – web sites), the Justice Department (news – web sites) asked the court to issue an injunction shutting down the 85 storefronts. It alleged the chain violated the law and put the public at risk by selling drugs that could potentially be unsafe.

The order requires the company to close its shopfronts immediately, said Rx Depot’s attorney, Fred Stoops. Carl Moore, founder of the Tulsa-based chain, said he would appeal the decision.

Stoops had argued that granting the injunction would create a domino effect that would cut off Americans nationwide from the only medications they can afford.

“This court is not unsympathetic to the predicament faced by individuals who cannot afford their prescription drugs at U.S. prices,” the judge wrote. “However, the defendants are able to offer lower prices only because they facilitate illegal activity determined by Congress to harm the public interest.”

FDA Associate Commissioner William Hubbard said the ruling was “clearly an affirmation of the FDA point of view that these drugs are potentially unsafe.”

However, Hubbard added the ruling put pressure on Congress to find ways to deliver safe medicines to those, especially senior citizens, who can’t afford to buy them. Congress has been working on adding a drug benefit to Medicare but discussion has included allowing people to buy drugs from abroad. The judge said Congress is the best forum to address the high cost of prescription drugs.

Moore said he had not seen the ruling Thursday afternoon but would comply in shutting down the stores. He was not sure when that would occur.

“There’s a drug crisis in this country due to the pricing and price gouging that goes on,” Moore said. “I’m going to do my part to see drug prices lowered in this country. If I have to change my way of thinking to comply with the judge’s ruling, I’ll do so.”

Only manufacturers are allowed to bring their medicines into the country. The judge found that Rx Depot “openly and notoriously” violated the law.

By skirting the FDA’s oversight, Eagan said the quality of the imported drugs is “less predictable” than those obtained in the United States. She also found the Canadian drugs were sometimes dispensed in higher quantities than requested by the prescribing physician.

Drugs are up to 50 percent cheaper in Canada than the United States because of government price controls.

Several of Rx Depot’s customers told Eagan that they could not afford their medications otherwise. A heart transplant patient testified in a two-day hearing last month that he saves nearly $9,000 a year through the company.

Springfield, Mass., Mayor Michael Albano has said his city expects to save $9 million through a voluntary program in which employees get their drugs through Canada.

Albano said Thursday he was disappointed but not surprised by the ruling. He wasn’t sure how it might affect his city’s program since its supplier is based in Canada.

“I have said all along that the remedy lies with Congress and the president, not in the judicial system,” he said. “I do think this will add to the momentum for Congress to pass a bill this session.”

But on Thursday, the FDA informed CanaRx Services Inc., the business supplying prescription drugs to the city of Springfield, that its operations are illegal. The FDA’s statement was in response to a letter from CanaRx in which the company outlined operational changes it made after regulators sent a warning letter last September.

Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota all recently announced they are considering buying drugs from Canada. Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich is lobbying Washington to change the law after concluding the state, as well as private citizens, could save money if it were legal to import Canadian drugs.

Rx Depot faxes customers’ prescriptions and medical histories from its shopfronts to a Canadian pharmacy. The pharmacy fills the prescription and mails the medication directly to the customers.

FDA witnesses testified that the safety of drugs coming from Canada could not be ensured.

However, they said the agency uses enforcement discretion when it comes to individuals crossing into Canada to buy small amounts of medication.

The government’s lawyers said Rx Depot is different from cases where Americans cross the border to buy drugs because it’s a large company making commissions off the sale of the drugs from Canada.