Canada Plans To Restrict Online Sales of Prescription Drugs to United States
Canada plans to announce measures that would restrict online sales of prescription drugs to U.S. consumers, Canadian Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh said on Thursday, AP/Long Island Newsday reports. Ken Polk, a spokesperson for Dosanjh, said that Canada might implement measures under which Canadian physicians could not co-sign prescriptions for patients who they have not examined in person or issue prescriptions to U.S. consumers who are not in Canada. In addition, Canada might implement measures to ban price reductions for exported prescription drugs and bulk exports of medications, Polk said.
Canadian officials have considered the issue for at least six months and likely will make a proposal to the Cabinet of Prime Minister Paul Martin next week. The passage of new legislation would require support from opposition parties and the minority government of Martin to pass, but revisions to current regulations would not require such support. "It was not clear if a ban on co-signing prescriptions could be accomplished by just changing regulations," according to the AP/Newsday (Gillies, AP/Long Island Newsday, 6/23).