Few turn to north for their prescriptions

Wednesday, Feb. 7, 2007 | 7:20 a.m.

CARSON CITY - Hampered by limited publicity, a weak dollar and other obstacles, the program to allow Nevadans to buy inexpensive prescription drugs from Canada has gotten off to a slow start.

During the first three months of the program - last June through August, the most recent figures available - only 810 prescriptions were filled under the program.

But Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley, D-Las Vegas, who sponsored the bill, said the program has had little publicity, adding that she expects its use to increase as it moves forward.

"Lots of people don't know about it," she said of the program, authorized by the 2005 Legislature.

Larry Pinson, executive secretary of the state Pharmacy Board, says one reason it did not explode out of the gate is that, when it was starting, the federal government enacted Medicare Part D, providing drug insurance coverage to senior citizens.

In addition, the strength of the Canadian economy meant that the U.S. dollar did not buy as much north of the border.

Pinson also told the Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday that drugs sold by offshore companies over the Internet are much cheaper than those of Canadian companies, but are potentially dangerous because they do not undergo the same regulatory scrutiny as in Canada.

The Pharmacy Board has received only one complaint involving a prescription from Canada, Pinson said. It involved a misprint on a label that was quickly corrected.

The rising cost of prescription drugs will be one of the major issues confronting the Legislature.

Nine pharmacies in three Canadian provinces have qualified to sell prescription drugs to Nevadans. Nevada is the only state that has a law licensing pharmacies. In other states, the governor's office or an agency may contract with Canadian pharmacies to sell the drugs.

Buckley said she is researching whether to expand the number of drugs that could be sold under the program. But she said controlled substances will not be among them because the law prevents Canadian pharmacies from selling controlled substances to Nevadans.

Sen. Mark Amodei, R-Carson City, said there also "may be an appetite" to expand the program to other countries, allowing them to sell low-cost drugs to Nevadans. Buckley, however, said she is opposed to that idea, favoring instead expanding the drugs available from Canada.

"There is no supply problem and the drugs are safe," she said.

When the legislation was passed in 2005, brand-name drugs were reported to be 40 percent cheaper in Canada than in the United States. Generic drugs, though, were about the same price in both countries.

Last year brand-name drug prices outpaced inflation in the United States, according to the AARP. In the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, the inflation rate was 3.7 percent but the cost of brand-name drugs widely used by older Americans rose by 6.2 percent.

In a further attempt to combat high drug prices, Assemblyman Marcus Conklin, D-Las Vegas, plans to again introduce a bill requiring drug manufacturers to disclose any gifts they give to doctors.

Conklin, who argues that there is a correlation between the freebies given physicians and the high cost of drugs, introduced a similar measure in 2005 that passed the Assembly but died in the Senate. Although his bill would not outlaw such gifts, it could shed light on how drug companies market their products.