As Canadian Internet pharmacies continue to market to American consumers in search of cheaper prescription drugs, many of the companies “are setting their sights on minority populations,” particularly Latino communities, the Boston Globe reports. Several of the companies now offer Spanish- or Portuguese-language versions of their websites and have begun advertising in local ethnic newspapers and radio stations, saying that “new sales are going to come from word-of-mouth referrals and connections to local communities where large numbers of people lack health insurance.” The president of Winnipeg, Manitoba-based Universal Drugstore, for example, says a U.S. Latino customer base currently accounts for about 10% of sales; the company recently hired a former director of elderly affairs from Florida to act as a consultant and “build ties to Hispanic leaders” in the state. In a similar effort to reach the Cape Verean, Brazilian, and Portuguese communities in Massachusetts, Winnipeg-based Nexus Drugstore has hired a Portuguese-speaking pharmacist and now advertises on local Portuguese radio stations. Officials from several municipalities and states that have promoted drug reimportation say it may “prove popular among immigrants and the ‘working poor’” who do not qualify for government-sponsored health insurance plans, but critics including the FDA say “some non-English speakers may be unfamiliar with the potential safety risks of importing prescriptions” (Rowland, 10/24).
