Plan for imported prescription drugs put on hold

Thursday, Sept. 29, 2005 | 9:55 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Nevada's plan to allow residents to buy lower-priced prescription drugs from Canada has hit a snag that could stop the program from taking effect.

The program approved by the Legislature this year has been put on hold while officials await an attorney general's opinion, which will determine if it goes forward.

At issue is a section of the new drug law that says a Canadian pharmacy shall not sell to a Nevada resident a drug that has not been approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

The state Pharmacy Board, in approving the Canadian pharmacies, said the drugs must come in the same dosage and come from an FDA-approved plant.

Lewis Ling, counsel for the Pharmacy Board, said one interpretation of the law would call for the drug to be in the same form and the same packaging as it is in the United States. Ling said that would stop any mail-order business to Nevada from Canada.

Another interpretation is that the molecules in the drug have been approved by the FDA. If that interpretation is accepted, then the drug could be shipped to Nevadans.

"Everything is hung up," said Ling, who added he expected the legal interpretation from the attorney general's office in three to four weeks.

Lawmakers passed the bill earlier this year, hoping to give Nevadans an avenue for cheaper prescription medication. The magazine Consumer Reports said prescription drugs from Canada are priced on average 25 to 50 percent below those on the U.S. market.

When and if the Canadian pharmacies finally receive approval from the state board, their names will be placed on the Web site of the state Office of Consumer Health Assistance.

The Pharmacy Board earlier this month gave tentative approval to licensing seven pharmacies in Canada, pending an inspection. Two of the pharmacies subsequently withdrew their applications.

The Pharmacy Board staff last week conducted inspections of the facilities. Ling said four of the five met muster but the fifth was "not as well managed" as others, he said.