More on seizures of legal prescriptions

Here is an earlier referencehttp://theelderlies.wordpress.com/2006/03/15/ customs-seizes-legal-prescriptions/

In todays’ Santa Fé New Mexican newspaper http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/44549.html is an article on this activity. The article discusses several aspects of the ordering from Canada, especially for those who may also be eligible for the Medicare prescription program. Ironically, ordering from Canada because the US has no thought-out health system may raise the costs of Canadian pharmaceuticals.

As the article implies, CanadaDrugs.com is a careful and helpful pharmacy to deal with.

After ordering a prescription drug for his enlarged prostate earlier this year from a Canadian pharmacy, a 76-year-old Santa Fe man received a letter from the federal government informing him that it had confiscated the package….

The U.S. Customs & Border Protection agency, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, said it was illegal for him to import the medications under the Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act. …
The man said he objected to his mail being intercepted and to the correspondence, which included a flyer warning him about the safety of importing prescription drugs. “I thought it was kind of threatening,” he said.

Until recently, the FDA has focused its enforcement efforts on people who import large quantities of drugs and not on individuals trying to save money on prescription medicines….Lynn Hollinger, a spokeswoman for the CBP in Washington, said the policy was changed to target individuals as well in November 2005. Between then and May 1, the agency had sent out 28,835 letters informing U.S. residents that CBP had seized noncontrolled pharmaceuticals addressed to them.

Consumer Reports cites a study by the Illinois Office of Special Advocate for Prescription Drugs, which found that Canada’s manufacturing and regulatory system is comparable to that in the United States and the distribution system is more likely to discourage drug counterfeiting. Moreover, a June 2004 report by the U.S. Government Accountability Office disclosed that all the prescription drugs it ordered from Canadian Internet pharmacies contained the proper chemical compositions and were properly shipped.

There are undoubtedly illegitimate pharmacies set up to serve people in the U.S. looking for drug bargains, the magazine noted, so customers should order from pharmacies entitled to display the Canadian International Pharmacy Association, or CIPA, seal. Such pharmacies will alert them when they intend to supply medication from another country.

Before ordering drugs from Canada . . .

• Go to http://www.CRBestBuyDrugs.org for information on drug options that can save you money.
• Ask your doctor to prescribe generic drugs and remember they are generally cheaper in the U.S. than in Canada.
• Check out http://www.pparx.com for information on 275 cost-saving drug programs.
• Go to http://PharmacyChecker.com, for a list of approved outlets in Canada and look for the Canadian International Pharmacy Association, or CIPA, seal.
• To find a list of the Canadian pharmacies with CIPA seals, go to http://www.ciparx.ca/cipa_pharmacies.htm

Source: Consumer Reports