Australia, New Zealand To Join Illinois’ I-Save Rx Reimportation Program

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) on Monday is expected to announce that within the next six to eight weeks, Australia and New Zealand will join the state's I-Save Rx program, through which residents can order lower-cost prescription drugs from other nations, the Chicago Sun-Times reports (Ritter, Chicago Sun-Times, 7/18). Illinois began I-Save Rx in October 2004, and Wisconsin, Missouri and Kansas later joined the program. The states contract with CanaRx, a Canadian pharmacy benefit manager that operates a network of online pharmacies, to allow residents to connect with a clearinghouse of 45 pharmacies and prescription drug wholesalers in Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland. U.S. residents can purchase only prescription refills, and most generic medications, narcotics and treatments that require refrigeration or other special care are excluded (Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, 3/10). About 10,300 orders have been placed though I-Save Rx, mostly by Illinois residents. A Blagojevich spokesperson said state agencies are increasing their efforts to raise awareness about the program. The announcement comes as Canada has announced a desire to "clamp down on drug sales" to the U.S., the Sun-Times reports (Chicago Sun-Times, 7/18).

U.S. Consumers Turning to Israel
In related news, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel on Monday examined how U.S. residents are ordering lower-cost prescription drugs from Israel, which offers "lower prices and solidarity" among supporters of the Israeli economy. According to Avi Fadida -- marketing manager for IsraMeds.com, an online, mail-order prescription drug company based in Israel -- two-third of the company's clients are Jewish and support helping Israel financially. Tom McGinnis, director of pharmacy affairs at FDA, said that ordering drugs from other nations is "more of a threat to public health of U.S. citizens because we don't know anything about these medications, how they are made, how they were stored and how they were shipped, as opposed to your state-licensed pharmacy" (Huriash, South Florida Sun-Sentinel, 7/18).