Friday, May 13, 2005 | 8:21 a.m.
CARSON CITY -- Seniors need cheaper drugs, and a way to do it is to buy them from Canada, advocates told senators Thursday.
But others cautioned the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee that a bill that would help Nevadans import prescription drugs from Canada could be unsafe and illegal.
Assembly Bill 195 would create a state-run Web site to link Nevadans to Canadian pharmacies that have been inspected by Nevada's state board of pharmacy.
Assembly Majority Leader Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, called the bill a "consumer protection measure."
People are already buying drugs from Canada online, she said. But there are stories of companies in countries such as Pakistan or elsewhere that bill themselves as supplying Canadian drugs.
"They've outrun us, Mr. Chairman," Sen. Maggie Carlton, D-Las Vegas, said during the hearing. "The consumers have left us and we're just trying to catch up now."
But several others argued that the regulations imposed on Canadian drugs bought through online pharmacies aren't up to par with the drugs bought in Canada.
Countries such as Singapore, Iran, Ecuador and Argentina are increasingly shipping their drugs to Canada, said Chris Ward, president of Ward Health Strategies and a former representative of the Pharmaceutical Manufacturers of America.
It's different when drugs are bought online than when Canadians purchase drugs at their local pharmacies, he said.
"That drug is every bit as safe in Canada as it is in the United States, but that's not the system that you're encouraging and supporting here today," he said.
People who buy drugs online might also waive their rights to protection under U.S. law, Ward said.
"Frankly, I think lawmakers in this country can do better than this, than trying to cherry pick somebody else's health care system," Ward said.
Marc Kealey, chief executive officer of the Ontario Pharmacists' Association, said his country negotiates for enough drugs for its own 32 million citizens.
Canadian leaders are already talking about outlawing the export of drugs to the United States because they're worried about drug supply to their own people, he said.
"We love you, but we don't want your business on this issue," he said.
One of the biggest hiccups for lawmakers on the committee, though, is whether or not the Web site would violate federal law that bans importation of drugs.
There is a provision that allows people to import a 90-day supply of drugs for their own personal use, Buckley said.
The Food and Drug Administration so far has ignored the eight states and other cities that run Web sites to help people import Canadian drugs, said Diane Darvey, an attorney with the National Association of Chain Drug Stores.
Still, she said, their policies clearly state that people are not supposed to import foreign drugs to the United States, especially for commercial use.
"The FDA, I believe, is very clear on their position on it," Darvey said. "They have chosen not to enforce it, but that does not make it legal."
Sen. John Lee, D-North Las Vegas, said it would almost be like the government was encouraging civil disobedience.
"But it hasn't been proven to me that this shouldn't be done by Nevada," he said.
The Commerce and Labor Committee is set to take up the bill next week in a work session. Seniors such as retired Washoe County teacher Marian Conrad had a warning for members of the committee who haven't struggled to pay drug prices.
"Just remember one thing," she said, "you're going to be one of us, because the alternative isn't too good."
archive
