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Feds Give Up on Canadian Drug Crackdown

Customs Agents Will Stop Seizing Grandma's Prescriptions

By James R. Hood
ConsumerAffairs.com

October 5, 2006

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Under election-year pressure from a nervous Congress, federal officials say they will stop seizing prescription drugs mailed to the U.S. from Canada. Last month, Congress approved cross-border drug purchases in Canada, where prescriptions sell for less.

"This is a huge victory," said Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.). "For nearly a year, the White House has been punishing seniors for filling their prescriptions at lower Canadian prices. Now it looks like the government is getting out of the business of harassing these consumers."

Nelson had been pressing for hearings on the Customs seizures. He had suggested the seizures were intended to intimidate seniors into signing up for Medicare Part D, the new drug benefit that went into effect earlier this year.

Last week, Congress inserted a provision in the Homeland Security appropriations bill that prohibits Customers agents from preventing persons from re-entering the U.S. from Canada with a 90-day supply of medicine.

Although that amendment did not apply to mailed prescriptions, it sent a clear message to the drug industry that it could no longer count on Congress to automatically support its profit-protection programs.

American seniors were infuriated when U.S. Customs agents began seizing their prescriptions last November. A Customs spokeswoman didn't say why the agency had reversed its policy.

"We're going back to operating procedures prior to November 2005," Lynn Hollinger said.

It is generally illegal for individuals to import prescription drugs into the U.S., but Customs had for decades largely ignored small shipments for personal use. It launched its crackdown last year, as drug companies began complaining about the growing wave of Canadian imports.

Prescription drugs are significantly cheaper north of the border because Canada negotiates lower prices for its citizens as part of its national healthcare system. The United States is the only advanced nation that does not exercise any control over the drug prices paid by ordinary citizens.

Because of the U.S. government's laissez-faire attitude towards its citizens' welfare, drug companies earn the bulk of their profits on the backs of Americans.

Until the rise of Internet pharmacies, the only Americans to benefit from lower Canadian prices were those able to make occasional shopping trips to Canada.

As millions of dollars began flowing into Canada in recent years, drug companies became alarmed and put pressure on their friends in Congress to crack down on retirees and the chronically ill.

The drug companies lobbying and propaganda arm, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhARMA) argues that drugs imported from Canada are unsafe because they haven't been tested by the Food and Drug Administration.

PhARMA Vice President Ken Johnson said he was disappointed with the policy reversal.

"We're adamantly opposed to any importation schemes. Fake drugs are a very serious problem that is real and growing," he said.

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