FDA shuts down major online pharmacy

Main Category: Public Health
Article Date: 10 Nov 2003 - 0:00 PDT

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A federal judge granted a request by the Food and Drug Administration Thursday to shut down Rx Depot, a popular Internet company that sells cheaper prescription drugs from Canada.

The government's move has proved controversial because of growing support from senior citizens who have been able to save money by looking to Canada for prescription drugs used to combat a wide range of ailments.

The American Association of Retired Persons (AARP) reports that an estimated 1 million Americans use Canada as a source for their prescription drugs, whether in person or online.

The FDA, however, said the lack of controls on the drugs represents a threat to public safety. The judge agreed.

'This court is not unsympathetic to the predicament faced by individuals who cannot afford their prescription drugs at U.S. prices,' wrote U.S. District Judge Claire Eagan in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

'However, the defendants are able to offer lower prices only because they facilitate illegal activity determined by Congress to harm the public interest,' Eagan said.

The FDA has said that the Canadian system is comparable with the one in the United States in terms of safety and regulation, but that some Web sites say they're supplying drugs from Canada but really aren't.

'These companies are not run by pharmacists by and large, [and] are not licensed in Canada,' said the FDA's William Hubbard before Thursday's ruling. '[They] often get drugs, we believe, from Third World countries.'

Earlier this year, the House and Senate passed separate bills to allow for the re-importation of prescription drugs from Canada but action is stalled as the conference committee tries to work out the differences between the two bills.

The Food and Drug Administration has fought the effort, arguing that re-importation could jeopardize safety because prescription drugs from other countries will not be subject to the same safeguards as those purchased in the United States.

The biotechnology industry also opposes re-importation.