Illinois to Seek Exemption to Buy Drugs From Canada

[Judi Lynn]

Illinois to Seek Exemption to Buy Drugs From Canada
By MONICA DAVEY

Published: December 22, 2003


HICAGO, Dec. 21 — Rod R. Blagojevich, the governor of Illinois, will ask the federal authorities to permit the state to ignore federal law and buy prescription drugs from Canada, aides said Sunday.

The request, which was met with skepticism by a federal official, is the latest political maneuver in a swell of pressure from local and state leaders to cut costs by buying drugs outside the country's borders.

Mr. Blagojevich, who planned to send the request on Monday to Tommy G. Thompson, the secretary of health and human services, wants Illinois to be designated for the nation's first "federally approved drug importation pilot program."

While government officials elsewhere, including in New Hampshire, have announced that they will simply forge ahead and assist people in buying drugs from Canada, Mr. Blagojevich says he will not break the law. Instead, under his proposal, the federal authorities would waive the law and allow Illinois to save what the governor estimates could be up to $90.7 million a year by buying Canadian medicine for state employees and retirees.
(snip/...)

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/12/22/national/22DRUG.html
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[silverweb]

1. And so is the lie exposed

...in yet another way, that "free trade" is no such thing.

Free people do not need permission from a corporatocracy to buy their medications from whomever they wish.

[lucky777]

2. Flu Vaccine from England .....

Let's get this straight: the government can buy flu vaccine from a firm located in England; a drug corporation can go overseas and buy cheap labor and materials. But we can't buy drugs from Canada.

Unfuckingbelievable.

Free trade is free trade -- If the government and the corporations can go overseas to get deals on anything (labor, parts) then we should have the same right.

[ConcernedCanuk]

3. UK "helped" Junior and his gang in Iraq - us Canuks didn't - oh well !!

.