Several major drug companies, including GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Pfizer Inc., have announced plans to curtail shipments to Canada in an effort to stop Internet sales…John Myers, a lawyer representing the Canadian International Pharmacy Association, said there is no hard evidence that any shortage is due to Internet pharmacies. "The facts seem to have been getting lost," he said yesterday. "Nobody ever dares to say, 'Show us your evidence.”
The Globe and Mail
November 13, 2003
U.S. drugs sales leave Canada short
Lack of two crucial drugs could affect patients with leukemia and brain tumours
Paul Waldie
Canadians are facing a shortage of two crucial cancer drugs because of increased cross-border sales by Canadian pharmacies, a Manitoba pharmacy group said yesterday.
The drugs, Temodal and Purinethol, are in short supply, which could affect radiation treatments for patients with leukemia and brain tumours, said Michele Fontaine, a Winnipeg pharmacist who specializes in cancer patients and is vice-president of the Coalition for Manitoba Pharmacy.
"We used to have a guaranteed supply. We never used to see problems to this extent," Ms. Fontaine said yesterday after a meeting with pharmacists in Illinois.
"All across Canada, we have an unpredictable drug supply. You order and you don't know what's coming in and what's not going to come in and we don't normally have that. There have been shortages but they were rare, now it's constant, every order."
She said the cancer drugs are a particular concern because patients often cannot start radiation treatment without the medication. Ms. Fontaine and other pharmacists blame the burgeoning Internet pharmacies for the problem.
The Manitoba group was in Illinois yesterday to pressure that state's governor to drop plans to import drugs from Canada for state employees. Other Canadian doctors and pharmacists have raised similar concerns recently about shortages of drugs to treat blood pressure and HIV.
Americans can save up to half the cost of drugs because of Canadian government price controls and a favourable exchange rate. About one-third of the 150 Internet pharmacies in Canada operate out of Manitoba.
Several major drug companies, including GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Pfizer Inc., have announced plans to curtail shipments to Canada in an effort to stop Internet sales.
Temodal and Purinethol are made by Novopharm Ltd. and Schering-Plough Corp. respectively. Officials at those companies could not be reached for comment.
John Myers, a lawyer representing the Canadian International Pharmacy Association, said there is no hard evidence that any shortage is due to Internet pharmacies.
"The facts seem to have been getting lost," he said yesterday. "Nobody ever dares to say, 'Show us your evidence.' "
He added that Manitoba's assistant deputy health minister has confirmed that the department has not found proof of a shortage caused by cross-border sales.
"Manitoba Health researches all reports it receives of any drug shortage, and while there are several reasons the supply of pharmaceuticals might be disrupted, we have found no evidence suggesting they might be attributable to Internet operations," Ms. Thomson said in a letter to Health Canada earlier this month.
Mr. Myers said there could be any number of reasons for a temporary shortage of drugs, but he said it is not fair to blame Internet pharmacies.
His comments came as Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty and officials from North Dakota visited Winnipeg and toured an Internet pharmacy.
Mr. Pawlenty said his state is joining Illinois in considering purchasing drugs from Canada.
"I think you're going to see more governors, more mayors, more people come on board," he said after touring CanadaDrugs.com, a Winnipeg business where operators fill up to 1,700 prescriptions a day, most of them destined for the United States. "I came away reassured and excited."
Manitoba Premier Gary Doer said he doesn't believe any kind of artificial barriers should be put up. "We don't have a Berlin Wall across the Minnesota-Manitoba border," he said after meeting with Mr. Pawlenty. "If we do believe in fair trade, we should continue the practice of trade, and pharmaceuticals should be part of that trade."
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is trying to crack down on Internet drug sales from Canada, in part because of safety concerns. But Mr. Pawlenty said he saw no safety problems during his visit, and he was told Canadian standards meet or exceed U.S. standards.
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Risks: Big Pharma, Without conscience, Canada, United States, 20031113 U.S. drugs
