Carolyn Brown , freelance journalist Ottawa carolynjbrown{at}bell.netFive US states want to import drugs, taking advantage of Canada’s cheaper products. Carolyn Brown asks whether this will help Americans, hurt Canadians, or be just another sign of the US failing to control drug costsOn 5 January the US Food and Drug Administration approved Florida’s plan to import drugs from Canada, after a delay of more than three years.1 Florida was the first state to ask the FDA, in November 2020, to import drugs from its northern neighbour, taking advantage of lower costs over the border. In autumn 2023 Texas became the fifth US state in three years to apply to the FDA for permission to import drugs from Canada.2 Colorado, New Hampshire, and New Mexico are the other states to have requested approval. The idea of importing from Canada is “nonsense,” one expert says. Marc-André Gagnon, a professor at Carleton University in Ottawa who specialises in pharmaceutical policy, says it ignores the underlying problem: “What …

Source: Forbes January 09, 2024 10:32 UTC