Healthy Skepticism Library item: 1482

Warning: This library includes all items relevant to health product marketing that we are aware of regardless of quality. Often we do not agree with all or part of the contents.

Publication type: news

Dodge C.
FDA Won't Rule Out Action Against States Over Imports
Bloomberg 2003 Nov 14

Full text:

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration isn’t ruling out legal action against states or cities that break
U.S. law by importing cheaper medicines from Canada, Commissioner Mark McClellan said.
Cities and states faced with soaring prescription drug costs are considering filling prescriptions in
Canada, where prices are controlled. Agency officials are talking to governors and mayors, as well as
Canadian officials, about the issue, McClellan said in an interview. The FDA has also been targeting
suppliers.
Legal action against local governments is ``certainly something we’ve not ruled out,’‘ said McClellan,
who is going to Canada next week to talk to health officials there.
A study commissioned by Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich said the state would save about 27 percent
of its $340 million prescription-drug budget by importing medications from Canada.
The FDA says the Illinois plan and similar programs proposed in Iowa, Minnesota and Wisconsin are
illegal and pose safety risks for consumers. Drugmakers such as Pfizer Inc. are also fighting the
imports, which cut into their profits.