Only days after the California State Assembly enacted a package of bills intended to contain rising prescription drug costs and make it easier for Californians to buy cheaper drugs from Canadian pharmacies, legislation has been introduced into the US Senate which, under certain conditions, would legalize drug imports from Canada.
Previous state legislative efforts, such as the California initiative, had to contend with the federal law which permits drug imports only when and if the US Secretary of Human Health Services certifies that such importation is safe, and no such certification has been made in over a decade.
The Senate bill (the Safe Importing of Medical Products and Prescription Therapies Act – Safe IMPORT Act) has these features:
- individuals will be allowed to import up to a 90-day supply of FDA-approved drugs purchased from licensed pharmacies in Canada (or any other permitted country)
- pharmacies, wholesalers and Internet importers will be allowed to import commercial quantities after meeting and maintaining strict requirements
- commercial importers will be obliged to register and maintain accurate supply chain records
- Internet pharmacy provisions will become effective when final regulations are issued, which the FDA must complete within one year