Feds seizing Canadian prescription drugs

[Judi Lynn]

Feds seizing Canadian prescription drugs
Minnesotans who rely on getting medications through over-the-border pharmacies have been getting a letter from the Customs Service instead.
Mark Brunswick, Star Tribune
Last update: February 04, 2006 – 11:53 PM

Minnesotans buying mail-order prescription drugs from Canada are having medications confiscated by U.S. Customs in escalating numbers, a step that has some worried that life-saving supplies may not reach customers on time.

Scores of participants in mail-order drug programs, including those involved through the state of Minnesota's websites, the Minnesota Senior Federation, and Canadian pharmacies have had their shipments intercepted since the first of the year.

The confiscations are making some people anxious that the government could take legal action against them. Others are concerned that federal authorities are keeping tabs on what medications they take.

Buying prescription drugs from abroad is illegal, but federal officials have allowed individuals to import medications for their own use.
(snip/...)

http://www.startribune.com/587/story/226603.html

[varkam]

1. I pledge allegiance...

to the United States of Pfizer...

[JohnnyRingo]

2. Well, they haven't been tested by the US government....

The pharm companies have to sell to the Canadian Gov at a lower price because they have a state controlled health care system and refuse to pay premium.

The drug companies prefer a reasonable profit to no profit, and willingly export.
If American seniors re-import them....that's no fair.

The FDA didn't approve!

[rodeodance]

13. It is the profit motive only

[smoogatz]

29. Sure they have. Same drugs, manufactured in the same plants.

But thanks to Bushco's lobbyist-written Medicare drug "benefit," it's now illegal to reimport them.

[Harper_is_Bush]

33. They're the same drugs though.

I'm not sure why the drugs are cheaper here. There are controls, yes. But for the most part it's the public buying the drugs....people pay for thier own medicine in Canada unless they're part of a company benifit program.

It's an interesting question though....are the prices in Canada more in line with what the drug companies should be charging? Are Americans being gouged?
If drug companies weren't making a profit in Canada would they bother to sell here?

[daleo]

39. Canadian medicare pays for a lot of drugs too

I had a nephew, for example, on chemotherapy. He wasn't paying out of his own pocket for the treatment - he had no money in any case. Same with my mom in a nursing home, etc.

On the other hand, I had to pay for antibiotics recently (although my job related benefits actually picked up most of the tab).

I don't know what the distinction is - chronic vs acute conditions perhaps. Hospital stay vs office visit?

I presume it is through these hospital and institutional care settings that the governments can exercise their leverage.

[CHIMO]

43. 16. How does the PMPRB review the pricing information for all patented med

16. How does the PMPRB review the pricing information for all patented medicines sold in Canada?

The PMPRB reviews pricing information on an on-going basis to ensure that the prices comply with the Patent Act and does so for the duration of the patent.

Following the scientific review, the PMPRB reviews the price of the drug to determine if it is within the Guidelines, based on the factors established in the Patent Act.

In summary:

Most new patented drug prices are limited so that the cost of therapy is in the range of the cost of therapy for existing drugs sold in Canada used to treat the same disease;
Breakthrough drug prices are limited to the median of the prices for the same drugs charged in other specified industrialized countries that are set out in the Patented Medicines Regulations (France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, U.K. and the U.S.).
Existing patented drug prices cannot increase by more than the Consumer Price Index (CPI);
In addition, the Canadian prices of patented medicines can never be the highest in the world.
When Board Staff finds that the price of a patented drug appears to exceed the Guidelines, and where the criteria for commencing an investigation is met, Board Staff will conduct an investigation to determine the facts.

An investigation can result in its closure; in a Voluntary Compliance Undertaking (VCU) by the patentee to reduce the price and to pay excessive revenues; or in a public hearing and remedial action.

http://www.pmprb-cepmb.gc.ca/english/view.asp?x=272#13

In return for longer rights to drug patents in Canada the companies agreed to a formula for establishing a fair price.

Governments in each provence establish their medicare policy and I don't believe that any government pays for drugs outside of a hospital environment. However, if one is on some kind of assistance from the government then there is probably some form of government subsidy, usually on the lowest price equivalent.

[daleo]

63. I think the government picks up cost for hospital out-patient as well

Which would probably be included in your term "hospital environment".

[LostinVA]

59. Of course they have -- they are the SAME drugs

Made in the SAME factories.

[alittlelark]

3. It's only illegal if there are no profits to be made...

...ie you were screwed under old system - and are now doubly screwed under the NEW system.


OPEN YOUR EYES....THINK.

[caligirl]

4. W's oath to big pharma, to confiscate on their behalf

[caledesi]

5. It happened to me! DO NOT ORDER FROM CANADA

Ordered a prescription drug (had prescription) from Canada and about 2 weeks later got a letter from CUSTOMS. I was never so scared in my life. Letter said the drug was confiscated and would be destroyed in 30 days unless I wanted to "appeal." Enclosed with the letter was some horrible xeroxed paper basically saying that drugs from Canada etc. might not be safe.

What bullshit! I know I am on their "list." Bastards!

I didn't appeal bec I didn't want any more attention brought on to myself.

BTW, I ordered on the Web.

As an aside, a friend who lives out of state was talking w/ me on the phone and mentioned ordering her drugs from Canada on the Web. I almost lost it bec she hadn't heard my story. She got really scared when she did.

Do we now live in a fascist state? :sarcasm:

edit: usual stuff

[Quakerfriend]

6. Thx for sharing your story!

Fascism is fast upon us.

[SoCalDem]

8. Pretty disgusting, isn't it?

You either pay through the nose and buy them HERE, or you go without your meds.

I must have missed the reports of all those piled up dead canadians..what with taking all those untested, dangerous drugs they buy from OUR companies..:sarcasm:

[rodeodance]

14. this has been their lame excuse for decades.

.....basically saying that drugs from Canada etc. might not be safe.

[caledesi]

44. Yeah, and doesn't Canada get a lot of their drugs from the good 'ol USA?

[Bridget Burke]

65. Perhaps from US drug companies, but not necessarily made here.

Some are manufactured in the Republic of Ireland, for example.

[jbnow]

36. How was it being mailed to you?

I heard that the post office is the safest route, has that changed?

I haven't ordered this year but I have a drug that I could never afford bought here. I get 3 months worth from Canada for less then the cost of 1 month here.

I am on medicare but even looking at plans I can't possibly afford the cost. Canada for some and drugstore.com for others is the only way I can afford it.

I am above the amount where I can get help with plan D which is just over 14K a year.

There are some drug companies that now f Canada to sell to Americans even if they go there and many more threatening to.

I can't handle this crap.

[caledesi]

45. Ordered on the Web...regular postage. I am on Medicare too.

Now another friend and I were talking the other day and he just ordered some prescribed drugs from Canada (he is on dialysis) and I told him my story. He couldn't believe it. I still get nervous thinking about it. Do we live in a fascist state or what?

[sarcasmo]

53. Wouldn't Fed Ex or U.P.S. be smarter than the post office.

[jbnow]

60. I read awhile ago that

FedeX deliveries (I think) were the ones being seized. I know it wasn't the post office.

[Bassic]

52. Drugs from Canada might not be safe

Yeah right fuckin pieces of shit.


Freedom is eroding fast south of the border. You have my sympathies. I'm just afraid it's a matter of time before the likes of Harper manage to do the same to us.

[sarcasmo]

54. Kiss your free Canadian Health Care goodbye if he is in their to long.

[Lorien]

62. For a lot of us, ordering from Canada is the only way to afford these

drugs. Between drug and heating costs I don't know how seniors are making it these days.

[upi402]

7. Blame Canada

Sheila: Times have changed
Our kids are getting worse
They won't obey their parents
They just want to fart and curse!
Sharon: Should we blame the government?
Liane: Or blame society?
Dads: Or should we blame the images on TV?
Sheila: No, blame Canada
Everyone: Blame Canada
Sheila: With all their beady little eyes
And flappin' heads so full of lies
Everyone: Blame Canada
Blame Canada
Sheila: We need to form a full assault
Everyone: It's Canada's fault!
Sharon: Don't blame me
For my son Stan
He saw the darn cartoon
And now he's off to join the Klan!
Liane: And my boy Eric once
Had my picture on his shelf
But now when I see him he tells me to fuck myself!
Sheila: Well, blame Canada
Everyone: Blame Canada
Sheila: It seems that everything's gone wrong
Since Canada came along
Everyone: Blame Canada
Blame Canada
Copy Guy: They're not even a real country anyway
Ms. McCormick: My son could've been a doctor or a lawyer rich and true,
Instead he burned up like a piggy on the barbecue
Everyone: Should we blame the matches?
Should we blame the fire?
Or the doctors who allowed him to expire?
Sheila: Heck no!
Everyone: Blame Canada
Blame Canada
Sheila: With all their hockey hullabaloo
Liane: And that bitch Anne Murray too
Everyone: Blame Canada
Shame on Canada
For...
The smut we must stop
The trash we must bash
The Laughter and fun
Must all be undone
We must blame them and cause a fuss
Before somebody thinks of blaming uuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuus
South Park

[Dover]

9. Yeah, throw the sick and elderly behind bars! Criminals every one!

What a PR disaster that would be for the GOP and Pharmaceuticals, eh?
Alas, the fear tactic seems to be working it's black magic once again...

[rodeodance]

10. says it is "unclear why" feds have increased confiscations now.

.....It is unclear why federal authorities have increased confiscations now.

Charlotte Bystrom of Crane Lake, Minn., was expecting a package of six medications in mid-January. Instead, the 69-year-old got a letter from U.S. Customs and Border Protection telling her the $600 shipment had been "intercepted."

The letter gave her two options: She could voluntarily "abandon" the drugs and waive any rights to the property; or she could request that they be sent to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for testing and disposal. Either way, she wasn't getting her medications back.

It was the first time in the three years she has been participating in a Minnesota Senior Federation drug import program that such a seizure had occurred.

[rodeodance]

11. in reading more of the article----re-shipments not confiscated.--almost

seems to be random???



..Neither representatives from the Chicago field office of Customs and Border Protection nor officials from the Washington, D.C. office responded to repeated inquiries about the confiscations.

As in Bystrom's case, people receiving the letters are being advised by mail-order programs to contact their Canadian pharmacy, which should re-ship the order at no cost. Bystrom received the new shipment without incident.

"It still makes me angry," she said. "I just am disgusted with the state of affairs in our country right now."

The confiscations have affected programs run by the State of Minnesota as well, but the impact is unclear. State employees who use the program have reported having their medications confiscated in increasing numbers. But state officials say they do not know if there has been a surge in confiscations, because pharmacies alerted them to the increases only near the end of the year.

[rodeodance]

12. and the Feds are mum!

........Neither representatives from the Chicago field office of Customs and Border Protection nor officials from the Washington, D.C. office responded to repeated inquiries about the confiscations.

[Dover]

15. The randomness is just more insideous. The fear gets spread

but is difficult to pinpoint. An unpredictable, phantom adversary.

[salin]

16. lets see Jan 1... beginning of Plan D - not enough enrollees

... so go after those who realize they will pay much more through Ws plan if they import US drugs through Canadian sources. Not difficult to figure out - just a little inter-agency assist for bushco and its horrendous public policies.

[dmr]

35. I think that may be it

I'm one of those who hasn't enrolled in any plan, in fact, I'm at a loss at what to do.

It's a Catch-22 set-up. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

[Vinca]

17. Well, there goes my blood pressure again.

These bastards are really pissing me off. We deal with a great pharmacy in Canada - friendly people, great service - and save a bundle. I swear, the only thing to do is move there.

[kurth]

18. Terror Alert: Canadian prescription drugs

Another example of the Bush government doing everything it can to torture and kill Americans.

[1932]

19. Republicans don't like free trade when it actually helps consumers.

[anitar1]

47. I have a feeling that this is pissing off some low income Pugs.n/t

[seafan]

20. Couldn't get the story link to work. Here's another link:

http://www.startribune.com/462/story/226603.html

[VegasWolf]

21. This story should be broadcast far and wide. How stupid are our

democratic "leaders" not to be taking full advantage of this kind of government intrusion for the 2006 elections. Here are real issues that affect real voters. Capitalize on the baby-boomers like me you damn idiots in the "leadership"!!!

[Strelnikov_]

23. Hear Hear!

But I think we both know where they are. They are consulting the triangulation 'Mentats' to determine the best course to sway the precious swing voter, god-forbid one of them be offended.

[caledesi]

46. I am a baby-boomer. They want us dead (the bulk of the

population, ya know). We have become too "expensive" to keep around.

[dogday]

22. Nice to know my son is in Iraq fighting for the freedom

of these people to get their medication from any source they choose. These bastards are with-holding much needed medication--This sucks. I hope these guys know that men are dying for our freedoms which are being eradicated on a daily basis....

[Generator]

24. Ah the benefits of free trade!

What? Oh-that's only for the corporations. Not the people.

[ZapaPaine]

25. When you live in the United Corporations of America you...

suffer the consequences of putting profit over people. It is our new mantra. Welcome to American Corporatism, it's here to stay. All laws benefit the corporations. All fear benefits their profits.

Prescription drugs are raping our wallets, even though they are 20-40% cheaper to purchase in Canada or Mexico. The quality is the same. Why, then, such high prices? Because the sheeple take it up the ass. Because in this country they can get away with it.

Land of the Meek, Home of the Slave.

[ninkasi]

26. The motive is profit, nothing else

The lame excuse that the administration is only concerned about the safety of re-imported drugs is a crock. The same administration exposes our troops to DU, wants to raise accepted levels of arsenic in our drinking water, and lied when they told people that the air was safe after the WTC disaster. The expose us to major pollution by not demanding that corporations use the proper equipment, foul the air, water, and soil, and we are supposed to believe that they worry about our safety?

It's insulting to me as a citizen that they allow so much pollution, and expose us to so many health hazards to keep their corporate buddies happy, then turn around and tell poor and elderly patients that they can't buy drugs from Canada. They are doing this to keep the big pharmaceutical companies happy, not because they give a rat's ass about us.

[ZapaPaine]

27. And we think we have so many freedoms...

Yet we cannot purchase medicines from abroad and we cannot travel to Cuba or Iran. Thing is, we are made to believe that we have the most freedoms of any people but the truth is very different. What is more of a human right that being able to medicate oneself, even at cheaper prices? Something is very wrong in this country. Sickening wrong.

[gulfcoastliberal]

28. What about NAFTA?

Oh, guess that only applies if corporations want to eliminate American jobs and shut down US factories.

[Bassic]

55. Actually, it also applies when American businesses

want to put canadian ones out of business.

[PA Democrat]

30. Our tax dollars at work to ensure maximum profits for big pharma. n/t

[greiner3]

31. I take 5 medications daily;

I was on Patient Assistant Program (PAP) for the drugs because of my low income. Because Medicare is now into it, I will start paying 2,950 a year on Medicare prescription programs. What a deal! I'm just waiting to figure out which of the 3 I can no longer take because I can't afford to. Pretty soon there will be scores of people dying in the streets. With any luck, one of the number will be me and I can retire permanently from the rat race.

[salin]

32. You are in my prayers, greiner3.

I fear that there are many caught in the bush/delay created crisis - where previous coverage is no longer attainable - and costs go up with no relief and no additional ability to absorb the new costs.

[reprobate]

38. Greiner3, have you looked at your medications and asked your doc

if any are brand names that can be switched to generics?

After talking to my doc, we found that of the ten meds I was taking we could change nine of them to generic, saving me hundreds of dollars a month. It's the only way the new Medicare screw you program makes any sense. I was going to order the one brand name from canadian stores, but now it looks like that's out of the box. Too bad. Aggrenox, the one brand name drug I take, which costs two hundred dollars a month retail, is sixty dollars US from canada.

This looks like the perfect subject for a letter writing campaign to our congress critters. Threatening them with non reelection would cause some trembling on their part.

Also write to them about getting on the bandwagon to remove this travesty and roll part D into medicare and allow medicare to join with Canada to negotiate prices for medication. We pay the highest prices in the world because we are the only nation that doesn't negotiate but pays whatever the pharmas want us to pay, based on how high a profit they want.

Write to them. throw a scare into our senators and representatives.

[reprobate]

34. The story has already been removed from their servers. Free Speech?

[preciousdove]

41. It was gone and is now back at a different link

It was not available when I searched for it about 5:30pm but the article is back I don't know if changes were made to it yet.

http://www.startribune.com/462/story/226603.html

[confludemocrat]

37. This'll go to the Supreme Court and Alito will cast the deciding vote

upholding gvt action in favor of big Pharma and against the people.

[preciousdove]

40. NEW LINK!

http://www.startribune.com/462/story/226603.html

[RedOnce]

42. This just happened to my 82 year old mother in California!

She called me very concerned. She doesn't want to be arrested but she can't afford US prices.

Apparently the letter said that her medicine was being held in customs at the border and that no further action would be taken unless she requested their release.

What a government...harassing old ladies to protect Big Pharma's profits.

[The Backlash Cometh]

48. By all means, let's protect the profits of the pharmecuticals, instead

of allowing the American people to make their own choices on medical care.

Here's a clue U.S.: Your medical programs SUCK!

(But some of the people in the medical field are great.)

[Dunvegan]

49. Homeland Security seizing medications from elderly, former Customs officia

If something wicked this way comes, you can bet it comes from the Department of Homeland Security.

Homeland Security seizing medications from elderly, former Customs official reports
Are grandma and grandpa now the newest targets in an expanding war on drugs?

By Bill Conroy,
Posted on Wed Feb 1st, 2006 at 08:09:40 PM EST

http://narcosphere.narconews.com/story/2006/2/1/20940/49383

An operation allegedly underway in Miami –- supposedly being spearheaded by U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) -- seems to indicate that elderly folks are indeed in the dragnet zone.

As part of that operation, CBP, which is part of the Department of Homeland Security, is seizing Canadian shipments of legally prescribed drugs that are being flown into the international mail facility at Miami International Airport, according to Mark Conrad, a retired U.S. Customs supervisory special agent.

Conrad, now an attorney, serves as the associate general counsel for the National Association of Federal Agents. He says the information about the seizure program was brought to his attention by a whistleblower, who does not want to go public out of fear of retaliation.

*snip*

The medications being seized, Conrad adds, are bound for delivery to elderly people who have ordered them from Canadian providers.

More here: http://narcosphere.narconews.com/story/2006/2/1/20940/49383

[Mizmoon]

50. How many packages do they sift through

to find illegal drugs? What else do they see?

I realize that the government has every right to screen mail for dangerous items like anthrax, but it makes my skin crawl a bit to know that a letter or package from outside the country is not truly private or secure.

[truthisfreedom]

51. they probably x-ray everything now.

[nolabels]

56. I hope (and will try my darnedest) not to ever give the traitors a dime...

of my money. I am bending to to the conclusion it would be better to die a natural death while starving them out, than to ever give them a red cent of my money.

Fucking criminal pharmaceutical companies praying on the sick and dying so they can live like kings, eff them in the ear with a big one :thumbsdown:

[Ilsa]

57. This makes me so ill. I have afriend who gets her son's

prescriptions by going to Mexico once a month. He is an adult and is on Texas' medicaid program, but it is taking so long for them to finish their paperwork that his parents had no choice as thier son is bipolar and possibly a little schizophrenic. I understand what she is going through. My son takes some of the same meds, and the monthly bill would be like a house payment if it wasn't for our insurance.

If you aren't rich, and if you don't have drug coverage, you are going to end up being a "criminal" by US standards.

What a sad state of affairs for one of the most powerful nations on earth.

[Tight_rope]

58. Well...I can't wait to see the news tonight...A MAJOR DRUG COMPANY

HAS BEEN BUSTED ON UNDERCOVER NEWS, FOR CHANGING THE PRESCRIPTION OF MILLIONS OF PARENTS, "WITHOUT" THEIR DOCTORS CONSENT. This could mean me, you, your mother, your kids. This is be on Houston's channel 13 news at 10pm central time.

[mainer]

61. A doctor in Maine got in trouble for co-signing LEGAL prescriptions

When you get meds from Canada, your U.S. doctor writes the prescription, then a doctor licensed in Canada must also co-sign it in order for the Canadian pharmacy to fill it. Well, a physician in Maine who's licensed in Canada has been co-signing the prescriptions (already signed by the patients' own doctors) -- and she's now in trouble. Another way to suppress drug importation.

[Jacobin]

64. Ain't facism GREAT?

Further evidence (as if we needed more) that the government and corporations have merged.

[depakid]

66. "....the media concentration permitted in the 1990s"

One of the main reasons why debate is dead in America, according to the author.

Now, who do you think was a major influence in bringing that about? Even though he had the power to put a stop to it- and even though they never gave him a break from day one?

[Macman44]

67. The article is full of crap.

You can bring medicines back from Canada as long as you have a prescription for it. You can even bring back some controlled items w/o a prescription of up to 90 dosage units as long as it is in its original sealed bottle/package/container and not on the prohibited list. That list includes opiate derived narcotics, steroids, etc. That policy was set by Congress. Check with your local Customs port prior to entering Canada/Mexico for types and amounts that can legally be brought back.

As for the online order thing, it is illegal to have pharmaceuticals shipped form overseas and always has been. It has only recently been enforced.

[realFedUp]

68. Getting drugs in our water....

As we've found out recently, particles of
different drugs can be found in our tap water...
offering a free, albeit hazardous way to
import drugs.