Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) announced plans yesterday to establish a program to aid state residents in purchasing cheaper prescription drugs from Canada, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, marking the first time that a state-backed importation program has included drugs from countries other than Canada, the Wall Street Journal reports. A spokesperson for the governor said the program—which is slated to begin within the next month and will be accessible via the Internet and a toll-free phone line—includes “built in” safeguards, such as limiting the imports to refills of approved prescriptions and excluding generic drugs, but the associate commissioner of policy and planning for the FDA said the agency has “significant concern about the risks [the drugs] would pose to Illinois citizens.” The state says it plans to contract with an unnamed Canadian pharmacy benefit manager to establish a network of pharmacies and wholesalers in the three countries, all of which would undergo safety inspections by state officials. Meanwhile, the Associated Press reports that the FDA’s acting commissioner recently said that although the agency will not approve state programs that import drugs from Canada, it will continue to use a “lighter touch” in dealing with such programs unless states begin importing drugs from countries other than Canada or a public health event occurs or is imminent (Wilde Matthews, Journal, 8/17; Baldor, AP/Yahoo! News, 8/16; Babwin, AP/Washington Post, 8/18).
