"Maine OKs international prescription drug imports" ASSOCIATED PRESS, June 29, 2013
AUGUSTA, Maine — Mainers will soon be able to once again buy less expensive, mail-order prescription drugs from other countries, despite concerns from some pharmacists that the practice is unsafe.
Under a new state law, residents will be able to buy drugs through firms like CanaRx. The Canadian business distributes prescription medications by mail and from licensed pharmacies in Canada, the United Kingdom, Australia, and New Zealand.
Some pharmacists fear the law will open up the state’s borders to counterfeit drugs, posing health risks to Maine residents. But supporters say it will provide significant cost savings to consumers and the state.
‘‘People need to be able to access life-saving drugs at a reasonable price, and this law gives Mainers more options while still allowing Maine pharmacies to negotiate with CanaRx,’’ Assistant Democratic leader Troy Jackson, who sponsored the legislation, said in a statement.
Related: On the Same LePage
CanaRx acts as a middleman, taking prescriptions written by doctors in the United States and filling them in out-of-country pharmacies. The prescriptions are approved by doctors in the foreign country, said Chris Collins, the group’s insurance program director. The company said patients can save up to 80 percent off US retail prices.
Until last year, the state of Maine contracted with CanaRx to offer state employees low-cost prescription medications for diabetes, arthritis, and other medical conditions in a program called MaineMeds. But in August, then-Attorney General William Schneider said the program violated state law because CanaRx could not be licensed in Maine.
The new law exempts pharmacies in certain countries from licensing requirements, allowing the state, cities, and businesses to legally contract with CanaRx or similar firms. The law also affirms that individuals are allowed to get prescription drugs from those countries. It goes into effect 90 days after the end of the legislative session, expected by early July.
Collins said CanaRx has not yet discussed with the state if and when they will restart the program.
‘‘I am very disappointed partly because this bill in my opinion significantly jeopardizes patients’ safety,’’ said Kenneth McCall, president of the Maine Pharmacy Association. ‘‘This bill opens up the secure drug supply chain and allows these types of counterfeit medications into the community.’’
And it hurts pharmaceutical profits.
McCall said that if a patient has a problem with a medication, the state will have no way of holding the international pharmacies accountable. He said Maine residents can get generic brands in the United States often for just as cheap as from another country.
Really? Where, after the Supreme Court said the doping up generics was fine?
Also see: Court ruling favors makers of generic drugs
Critics say allowing international prescription drugs into Maine may violate US law. According to the US Food and Drug Administration, it’s illegal to import drugs from other nation that have not been approved by the FDA for use and sale in the United States.
Collins said CanaRx operates only in countries that have just-as-strict regulations and oversight as in the United States.
You mean, like at the compounding facilities?
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Related:
"Report cites need for drug tracker" by Lauran Neergaard | Associated Press, February 14, 2013
WASHINGTON — Fighting the problem of fake drugs will require putting medications through a chain of custody like US courts require for evidence in a trial, the Institute of Medicine reported Wednesday.
The call for a national drug tracking system comes a week after the Food and Drug Administration warned doctors, for the third time in about a year, that it discovered a counterfeit batch of the cancer drug Avastin that lacked the real tumor-killing ingredient.
They want to track everything.
Fake and substandard drugs have become an increasing concern as US pharmaceutical companies move more of their manufacturing overseas. The risk made headlines in 2008 when US patients died from a contaminated blood thinner imported from China.
Well, STOP MOVING OVERSEAS!
Related: “India.... the pharmacy capital of the world.’’
The Institute of Medicine report made clear that this is a global problem that requires an international response....
Lawrence O. Gostin, a professor of health law at Georgetown University, said a mandatory drug-tracking system could use some form of barcodes or electronic tags to verify that a medication and the ingredients used to make it are authentic at every step, from the manufacturing of the active ingredient all the way to the pharmacy. His committee examined fakes so sophisticated that health experts couldn’t tell the difference between the packaging of the FDA-approved product and the look-alike.
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Also see: Around New England: Cleaning Up in Connecticut
They couldn't solve that even with all the NSA spying?
