Canada about to ban bulk sales of drugs to U.S.

Jun 28 2005

According to some press reports Canada is about to announce a ban on bulk sales of drugs to the United States as a way of reining in Internet pharmacies that sell cheap medicine to Americans.

Quoting federal sources Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh is apparently about to unveil a monitoring system to track the volume of drugs being shipped out of Canada in an effort to ensure that domestic supplies do not run out.

Although the proposals would not stop individuals from using Internet pharmacies, but they would in effect block plans by some U.S. states for bulk purchases of medicines from Canada.

Because Canada sets limits on what pharmaceutical companies can charge for their drugs, drugs are consequently cheaper in Canada than in the U.S.

This has triggered a boom in Internet pharmacies which sell medicines to Americans, often without Canadian doctors seeing the patients or signing their prescriptions.

Dosanjh says though several bills to allow foreign drug imports are presently before the U.S. Congress, Canada does not have the supplies to meet a vast increase in demand from south of the border.

Threats to halt shipments to Canada have come from pharmaceutical companies if the drugs are simply shipped back to the United States and sold at levels that undercut U.S. prices.

Dosanjh spokesman Ken Polk would not comment on the report.

He merely says that any package of steps will reflect the minister's abiding concern with protecting the Canadian supply of prescription medicines, protecting the Canadian drug pricing regime, as well as restricting the practice of co-signing prescriptions for Americans.

According to officials Dosanjh is due to make the announcement some time this week.