Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich has ordered his staff to study the possibility of buying prescription drugs in Canada, even if that means defying federal drug regulators. The drugs would be used by 240 000 state employees and retirees.
Blagojevich says the state now spends US$340 million annually on these drugs, 15% more than last year and 17% less than the total expected for next year. He says the status quo is “intolerable and unacceptable.”
Blagojevich is not alone in considering the new approach. In Springfield, Mass., Mayor Michael Albano has already enrolled more than 800 city employees in a program that waives their standard copayments if they order their prescription drugs from Canada. He estimates that if a large proportion of Springfield's 9000 employees sign on, it would save the city between US$4 million and $9 million per year.
Legislators are looking north for the same reason thousands of consumers are purchasing drugs from Canadian firms — prices for comparable medications are from 20% to 80% less than in the US because Canadian prices are regulated.
However, the US Food and Drug Administration maintains that drug importation of this nature is illegal. Following that lead, the Justice Department has filed suit against chains of store-front operations that have sprung up across the US to process orders for drugs being sent to Canadian pharmacies. The chains have remained open and say they will fight the case in court.
There is strong consumer pressure in the US to allow the imports. The American Association of Retired People says it is a national embarrassment that “in a country with the most advanced medical system in the world, so many of our citizens … can obtain affordable prescription drugs only by seeking them in foreign countries.” — Milan Korcok, Florida