Pharma groups sue over drug importation law
A group of pharmacy industry organizations has filed a lawsuit against the state aimed at stopping the Oct. 9 enactment of a law that would allow the importation of drugs from countries with similar safety standards, such as Canada.
The Maine Public Broadcasting Network reported the pharmacy group includes individual pharmacists and the industry group, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, who claim that the imported drugs pose a risk to patient safety.
Debate over the legality of drug importation in Maine most recently began late last year, when former Maine Attorney General William Schneider ruled that the Canadian mail-order drug company CanaRx could not be licensed to do business in the state.
The ruling prompted a response from the state employees’ union, the city of Portland and the Guilford-based Hardwood Products Co., all of which said they saved money using CanaRx and that they had no problems with drug quality.
The law would allow imports from Australia, Canada, Northern Ireland, New Zealand and the United Kingdom. Alex Kappelman, of the Maine Society for Health System Pharmacists, told MPBN that foreign governments can’t police those products, which he said opens the potential for patients to receive counterfeit, inferior or expired medications.
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