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Canadian Pharmacy group applauds
U.S. House vote
approving imported prescription drugs
CALGARY, Alberta, July 28, 2003 -- The
Canadian International Pharmacy Association,
Canada's leading group of pharmacies which
provide international prescription services
to U.S. patients, applauds the outcome of
the vote by the members of the U.S. House of
Representatives on the Pharmaceutical Market
Access Act of 2003. Members from both sides
of the House voted to pass the legislation
(243 to 186) last Friday morning.
"We heartily applaud the U.S. House's wise
vote to support seniors and America's
working poor, who need access to low-cost
and safe Canadian drugs," said Andy Troszok,
vice president standards of the Canadian
International Pharmacy Association. "Despite
the drug industry's millions of dollars in
lobbying against the bill and conjuring up
the wildest accusations against Canada's
pharmaceutical distribution system, House
members were not persuaded to kill the
legislation. The members of the House
realized that American consumers desperately
need access to more affordable medications
and that Canada can deliver a safe
alternative."
Troszok says that more than 1 million
Americans currently access Canada's safe
prescription drugs. "Our members are proud
to say that we serve hundreds of thousands
of customers each year, and there has never
been a major negative incident involving
Canadian drugs," added Troszok.
"The drafters of the legislation were
mindful of the various straw-man arguments
about the safety of imported medications
from Canada that the multinational drug
companies have used to fight the importation
issue. Those issues have been addressed, "
said John Myers, CIPA's General Counsel, "as
long as the prescription drugs are
manufactured in an F.D.A.-approved facility
in Canada, the European Union and several
other nations."
The legislation will also put in place a
series of counterfeit-resistant technologies
to the packaging and labeling of imported
drugs.
"Although Canada's prescription drug
distribution system is as secure as systems
in the United States, if these measures
provide our patients with additional
confidence in the medications they receive
from our member pharmacies, then CIPA will
support these new requirements", said
Troszok. "CIPA hopes to play a role in
developing the technologies referred to in
the legislation."
To help strengthen the pharmacies' safety
message, in June, a U.S. Congressional
Research Service Study found that Canadian
and U.S. drugs are made and distributed
using nearly identical standards.
While the pharmacies sell their drugs at
prices up to 30 to 85 percent less than U.S.
prices, the major drug manufacturers are not
losing that much. After all, Canada's drugs
are made by the major pharmaceutical makers
including Pfizer, Wyeth and Merck, all of
which have subsidiaries in Canada.
To keep Americans paying the highest drug
prices, in recent weeks, the pharmaceutical
industry lavishly spent millions of dollars
to take out a major national media campaign
portraying imported drugs as unsafe,
encouraged friendly politicians and
religious groups to negatively position the
move as opening up the country to unwanted
medications, and, in an unusual step, may
have played a role in having the FDA lobby
legislators.
CIPA is hopeful that the U.S. Senate and
President Bush will have the foresight to
support the House bill. But, it recognizes
this is a tough battle that pits it against
an all-powerful drug lobby with an unlimited
bankroll that affords it one lobbyist per
member of Congress, and using lobbying
efforts that Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.)
referred to as "dishonest and hypocritical."
The bill (HR2427) was led by Reps. Gil
Gutknecht (R-Minn.), Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo.)
and Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.).
The U.S. and New Zealand are the only
industrialized nations that do not manage
their drug prices.
With member pharmacies across Canada, CIPA
is Canada's leading association that
represents pharmacies providing services to
U.S. patients.
CIPA's members serve more than one million uninsured and low-income
patients in all 50 states. Before
patronizing these pharmacies, many customers
had been unable to afford their medications.
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