Montgomery County’s plan to offer its residents easy access to Canadian drugs was tossed aside this week by a federal judge, but pay the decision no mind — the District provides a simple system to have drugs delivered from north of the border, or even across the pond.
On the D.C. government’s home page, www.dc.gov, is a link to Minnesota’s RxConnect program, which “provides information on safety and cost-saving tips and access to low-cost medication from Canada.” In addition, some medications ordered through Canadian companies can be filled by affiliate pharmacies in Britain, offering even more price options.
Canadian and British prescription medications are less expensive due to price controls.
To use RxConnect, customers will need a doctor’s prescription, and the D.C. Web site is full of helpful hints for ordering, paying and shipping medications. So go ahead, order away.
But before being transferred from the District’s portal to Minnesota’s Web site, readers are warned: “Federal law prohibits U.S. residents from purchasing pharmaceuticals from other countries while inside the United States; however, the law is currently not being enforced.”
On the legal question, the District goes a step further, describing in detail why RxConnect is technically illegal under statutes enforced by the Food and Drug Administration.
“However, to our knowledge, the U.S. government has not stopped individual U.S. residents from buying small amounts of prescription drugs for their own personal use, or that of a family member, and the FDA has made statements to the media that they do not plan to interfere with such small individual purchases,” according to the District’s Web site.
PhRMA, the drug manufacturers’ lobby, opposes importation arguing the risks of fake and substandard counterfeit medicines outweigh any benefits.
“Americans should not risk their health by importing potentially dangerous and counterfeit medicines from abroad,” Ken Johnson, PhRMA senior vice president, said in a statement. “Instead, they should turn to safe alternatives here in the United States.”
Numerous states and jurisdictions have adopted similar Canadian importation systems — without FDA permission. Montgomery County sued the federal government after it was denied a waiver to implement a program of its own, and a federal judge tossed the complaint this week.
Montgomery County Council Member Tom Perez, a vehement supporter of Canadian importation, argues his county’s lawsuit was unnecessary given the federal government’s lax enforcement of existing law.
“I’ve had links on my Web site for quite a while,” Perez said. “It is that simple. I have not been losing sleep over that one.”
