California Assembly Approves Bill To Create Prescription Drug Reimportation Web Site

The California Assembly on Wednesday voted 48-17 to approve a bill (AB 1957) that would create a state Web site to help residents purchase lower-cost, U.S.-made prescription drugs from Canadian pharmacies, the AP/San Jose Mercury News reports. Under the bill, sponsored by Assembly member Dario Frommer (D), the state Department of Health Services would develop a Web site by July 1, 2005, that would include prices in California and Canada for the 50 most commonly prescribed brand-name drugs. The site also would include links to Canadian pharmacies licensed by a Canadian province, meet California's pharmacy standards and sell only medications approved by the Therapeutic Products Directorate of Health Canada (Lawrence, AP/San Jose Mercury News, 5/27). In addition, the bill would require the state to post a warning to consumers about foreign pharmacies that have records of selling counterfeit drugs and other illegal sales practices (Salladay/Rau, Los Angeles Times, 5/27). Frommer said that state residents already are purchasing prescription drugs from Canadian pharmacies online, adding that "[a]ll this bill does is allow Californians to know that the pharmacies they are dealing with are reputable and safe." However, opponents said the bill might not include enough safeguards against the reimportation of dangerous or inadequate medications and would "endorse breaking the law," the AP/Mercury News reports (AP/San Jose Mercury News, 5/27).

Other Bills To Address Prescription Drug Costs Move Forward
The vote on the measure coincided with the approval on Wednesday of four other state Assembly bills on prescription drugs and followed the approval in the state Senate of eight bills concerning the pharmaceutical industry (Los Angeles Times, 5/27). For example, the state Assembly on Wednesday approved a bill (AB 1958) that would allow for more bulk prescription drug purchases and legislation (AB 2326) that would require the state to issue a report card on the cost and effectiveness of various prescription drugs. The state Senate on Tuesday approved a separate bill (SB 1333) that would require the state to consider purchasing prescription drugs from Canadian pharmacies (Martin, San Francisco Chronicle, 5/27). The bill would relate to prescription drugs for beneficiaries of the state AIDS Drug Assistance Program and Medi-Cal, the state Medicaid program (Los Angeles Times, 5/27). Several of the bills passed in the two chambers this week are similar; Democratic lawmakers will decide which legislation to move through the Legislature. Although all the measures "face fierce lobbying by the pharmaceutical industry," there appears to be sufficient support in the Legislature to send "some form of prescription drug reform" to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger (R), the Chronicle reports (San Francisco Chronicle, 5/27). Ashley Snee, a spokesperson for the governor, said Schwarzenegger does not comment on pending legislation but added that he is concerned both about the cost of prescription drugs and the legal ramifications of reimportation for California, the Times reports (Los Angeles Times, 5/27).

North Carolina Joins Federal Consumer Protection Program On Reimportation
The North Carolina Board of Pharmacy and the North Carolina Association of Pharmacists on Wednesday announced that they have joined a federal government campaign, "Looks Can Be Deceiving," to warn consumers about the potential dangers of purchasing drugs from Canada, the Raleigh News & Observer reports. The campaign, which has distributed more than 500,000 posters, fliers and prescription bag inserts to 575 pharmacies in the state, cautions residents that reimported drugs may be counterfeit, unsafely produced or labeled in a language other than English and might not have been checked for safety and effectiveness (Fisher, Raleigh News & Observer, 5/27).