The US Food and Drug Administration has threatened to take legal action to prevent the import of cheap prescription drugs from Canada and other countries, says a report in the New York Times. Online Canadian pharmacies are popular with Americans, because price regulation in Canada means that drugs there are much cheaper than in the United States.
The report said that William Hubbard, associate commissioner of the FDA, had written to a lawyer in New Orleans who had asked about federal policy, saying importation could be illegal (13 March, section C, p 2; or see www.nytimes.com). The letter said, “Those who aid and abet a criminal violation of [the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act], or conspire to violate the act, can be found criminally liable.”
A news report in the web edition of the Canadian Medical Association Journal said that Canadian and US officials “don't know how to deal with online Canadian pharmacies that sell directly to customers in the US.” It quotes Carmen Catizone, executive director of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy, as saying that although such purchases are technically illegal in the United States the FDA was not cracking down because the issue was too politically sensitive. Many Americans buying drugs from Canadian online pharmacies lack adequate insurance (www.cma.ca/cmaj/cmaj_today/2003/03_10.htm).