In spite of declaring FDA alerts, Cities and counties will continue to import medications

Challenge of Buying Prescription Drugs online 

Cities and local governments in several states, including Florida and New York, said they will continue to use a Canadian company to offer their employees buy prescription drugs online at a very reduced price, despite federal officials expressing concerns about the safety of this practice. .

Municipalities use CanaRx relating their employees with traditional pharmacies in Canada, Britain and Australia to fill prescriptions.

In a letter sent to CanaRx, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said the company has dispatched "unapproved" and "wrongly labeled" drugs to consumers in the United States, jeopardizing their safety.

The FDA urged consumers not to use any CanaRx medication, which works in about 500 cities, counties, school districts and private employers to organize the purchase of medications. Some of these employers have been using the service since 2004.

Drug prices from overseas pharmacies can be up to 70% lower than what consumers pay in the United States because costs are regulated by foreign governments.

FDA officials did not explain why they waited more than a decade to act. They acknowledged that the agency had no reports of anyone damaged by drugs received through CanaRx.

The FDA issued its warning while Congress and the Trump administration investigated ways to lower drug prices. Last month, Florida Republican Governor Ron DeSantis said he has the backing of President Donald Trump to launch a program to start importing drugs from Canada to state residents.

After comments from DeSantis, White House officials emphasized that any such plan must have state and federal approvals.

The FDA said that in most of the  cases the importation of drugs for personal usage is illegal, although it has hardly tried to prevent Americans from bringing drugs across the Canadian border. It has not stopped retail stores in Florida that help consumers buy drugs in Canada since 2003. Nine stores were raided by FDA officials in 2017, although the FDA has allowed them to continue operating.

Schenectady County in New York come to an agreements with CanaRx since 2004, defended their relationship and has no immediate plans to close it, according to Chris Gardner, a county attorney. "We wait to observe how this develops, but right now it is the status quo," Gardner said.

He added that CanaRx, which is based in Windsor, Ontario, helped the county save $ 500,000 in drug costs in 2018. About 25% of the 1,200 county workers use the program and get their medications without out-of-pocket costs. If they use American pharmacies, they usually have a copayment.

"This is a good initiative, it is legitimate in merit and they are not doing the terrible things that the FDA indicates," Gardner said.

CanaRx officials denied they were violating any laws or putting Americans' health at risk. They say they are not an online pharmacy, but an intermediary with real pharmacies in Canada, Australia and Great Britain and employees in the United States. People can buy medications through CanaRx only with a prescription from their doctor.

The company told that it has no plans to stop distributing drugs.

"The FDA's characterizations of the CanaRx business model and operating protocols are completely wrong," said Joseph Morris, a Chicago-based company attorney. “It is not possible to place an order through any CanaRx website; Your website is informational only. ”

Morris said the FDA's announcement prompted calls from many municipalities, but all so far say they plan to keep the company.

Columbia County, NY, has used CanaRx for about a decade and saving allows employees to offer medicines at no out-of-pocket costs instead of paying up to $ 40 copay at local pharmacies.

Federal health officials, both under Republican and Democratic administrations, have blocked efforts to legalize the importation of drugs, saying it is too risky.

Gabriel Levitt, president of PharmacyChecker.com, a website for US consumers which verifies international pharmacies that offer medications online, said CanaRx is one of the safest ways for Americans to obtain medications from legitimate pharmacies in Canada and other industrialized countries.

PhRMA, the industry's trade and lobbying group, applauded the FDA's action, but denied it had any role in it, spokeswoman Nicole Longo said.

"PhRMA supports the FDA's to take an effort to put an end the organizations that are circumventing its strong safety and usefulness requirements," he said. "Drug import plans to expose Americans to potentially unsafe and adulterated drugs."