Ten Canadian firms apply to sell drugs in Nevada

Tuesday, Aug. 23, 2005 | 9:22 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Ten pharmacies from Canada have applied to be licensed to fill prescriptions for Nevadans, state officials said Monday.

Louis Ling, the Nevada Board of Pharmacy's lawyer, said he had expected to see three applications at most. But by Friday's deadline, more than three times as many Canadian pharmacies had submitted applications, each accompanied by a $500 filing fee. All 10 are independent pharmacies and most have been selling to the United States for years, Ling said.

Assembly Majority Leader Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, said she was "encouraged by the response." It reflects a "healthy interest" in Nevada's plan, she said.

The 2005 Legislature authorized Canadian pharmacies to apply to the state to be licensed, with their names included on the Web site of the state Office for Consumer Health Assistance.

The pharmacy board will review the applications at its Sept. 7-8 meeting in Reno. A team of pharmacy board staff is to go to Canada the week of Sept. 19 to inspect the pharmacies whose applications are approved.

Once they pass the inspection, the names will be included on the Web site and Nevadans can start dealing with them. The consumer health office will also provide links to Web sites of the Canadian pharmacies that have been licensed by the pharmacy board. Information about how to take advantage of new program will be on the Web site. People will be able to fax their prescriptions to the Canadian pharmacies, which have toll-free telephone numbers.

Keith Macdonald, executive director of the Pharmacy Board, has estimated that Nevadans could save up to 40 percent on some prescription drugs. But he said generic drugs cost about the same in both nations.

Buckley, who was the major sponsor of the bill, said the Canadian option is another tool for Nevadans to try to find more affordable prescription drugs. She said people on Social Security and working families, who may not have insurance, have trouble paying for prescription drugs. In other states, Buckley said, a few hundred residents signed up initially and then it grew to thousands through "word of mouth." The law permits a resident to secure up to a three months supply of drugs from a Canadian pharmacy at one time.

Ling said two of the applications came from pharmacies in British Columbia, two from Alberta and six from Manitoba. He said the licensing laws in Canada were similar to Nevada.

The law prohibits the Canadian pharmacies from selling to Nevadans any prescription or generic drugs that have not been approved by the FDA.

In July, Canadian Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh said restrictions may be imposed in the future on sales of prescription drugs to U.S. consumers. But no action has been taken so far.