Merck To Block Supplies to Canadian Pharmacies in Effort To Stem Reimportation of Prescription Drugs

Merck this week has begun to block supplies to Canadian pharmacies that sell company products to U.S. residents, "adding to manufacturers' efforts to disrupt" the practice of prescription drug reimportation, the Bloomberg News/Boston Globe reports. Merck officials sent letters to Canadian pharmacies to inform them that the company will block supplies until direct and indirect sales of Merck products to U.S. residents ended.

The letter, dated Jan. 14, said, "The practice is of concern to our company as it raises a number of regulatory and legal issues relating to the sale of Canadian-approved medicines to foreign jurisdictions and it jeopardizes supply to Canadian patients." Rupinder Brar, special products manager for Manitoba-based Canadameds.com -- which received the letter from Merck -- said that Pfizer, AstraZeneca, Wyeth and other pharmaceutical companies have taken similar actions (Bloomberg News/Boston Globe, 1/20).

Earlier this month, Merck and seven other pharmaceutical companies filed a lawsuit that challenged the right of U.S. residents to reimport prescription drugs from other nations. In the lawsuit, the pharmaceutical companies cite an FDA statement that "permitting foreign drugs to be freely imported" is "directly contrary to current law." The lawsuit also seeks to dismiss a separate suit that alleges the pharmaceutical companies conspired to restrict the access of U.S. residents to brand-name medications from Canada. U.S. Magistrate Jonathan Lebedoff will hear the case and submit recommendations to U.S. District Judge Joan Ericksen. No deadline is set for a decision (California Healthline, 1/14).