Posted At Burlington Free Press
BY : Dennis McMahon
The ability of Americans to purchase safe and reasonably priced prescription medications from Canada is an important consumer protection and health issue which requires vigilance and creative problem-solving.
There are several distinct concerns within the pharmaceutical reimportation area. One is the claim by various attorneys general and consumer groups that concerted efforts by certain US pharmaceutical manufacturers to limit sales to Canada and increase prices to Canadian distributors so as to frustrate purchases of Canadian drugs by Americans constitute violations of federal and state antitrust laws.
I became involved in this issue in 2003 and have maintained regular communications with the offices of the attorneys general who have been working on it. I also registered complaint with the U.S. Department of Justice, Antitrust Division, and have corresponded with Canadian public officials and organizations regarding the antitrust aspects of corporate resistance to reimportation of Canadian medications.
I chartered the Canadian American Pharmaceuticals Alliance which campaigns for reimportation and publishes a periodic Legislative Action Bulletin addressed to elected officials and consumer groups throughout the U.S. and Canada. Senior officials in Quebec have expressed appreciation for documentation on the issue vis a vis its economic impact on Quebec-Vermont trade.
I have opened lines of communication with major pharmaceutical industry executives. This dialogue has been most useful and informative.
Regarding the safety of pharmaceuticals from Canada, we have reviewed the practices and procedures now in place in the European Community. Along similar lines we have proposed the creation of a joint FDA-Health Canada Pharmaceutical Safety Board modeled after the EMEA, the European Medicines Agency. I maintain regular monitoring of pharmaceutical safety procedures and developments in Europe.
Health Canada safety standards are equivalent to if not greater than FDA regulations in various aspects and thus an indicator that reimportation can be maintained on a safe basis. The creation of a joint board would harmonize U.S. and Canadian standards for mutual protection and would have the additional function of allowing fair market access for providers and consumers of prescription medication on both sides of the border.
A glance at the latest annual report of The Jean Coutu Group (PJC), Inc. provides cogent support for the removal of any government barriers to pharmaceutical reimportation on a quality control or any other basis. Entitled A Growing North American Presence this report demonstrates the major Quebec pharmacy groups Canadian and U.S. reach with retail operations including the Brooks and Eckherd chains.
Indeed, the Jean Coutu group is now the fourth largest drugstore chain in North America with 2,204 outlets including 336 Brooks stores. It operates in three Canadian provinces and 18 states from Maine to Georgia including its dominance with the Brooks stores here in Vermont. The operation of such an excellent and well-managed multinational in our state also raises the opportunity for reimportation as an incentive to regional economic development. We have been in close and continued communication with officials at the ministerial level in Quebec on this unique aspect of the pharmaceuticals issue.
I believe that the issue of reimportation was never so much a health issue but a trade issue related to the efforts of various major pharmaceutical manufacturers to control North American prescription drug pricing. In addition to the efforts being undertaken by various attorneys general as to the alleged antitrust implications of the claimed behavior of major U.S, and European pharmaceutical manufacturers, I believe that advocates of reimportation should seek an amendment to NAFTA to permit reimportation as well as address justifiable concerns expressed by Canadian federal officials over supply in that country.
Creative analysis and advocacy can fine-tune all aspects of pharmaceutical reimportation to the benefit of consumers and small business in Vermont, Quebec, and the entire region.
Reimportation is an issue that appears to have lost steam. Rest assured, we continue to do the research and background work to help keep the engine running.
