WASHINGTON – The federal government moved Thursday to shut down another company that imports cheaper Canadian drugs to the United States.
The Food and Drug Administration gave Expedite-Rx of Temple, Texas, 15 days to quit or face legal action. The warning letter marks the third time the FDA has moved to shut down suppliers who defy its ban on the importation of foreign drugs.
Expedite-Rx supplies drugs to some employees and retirees of Montgomery, Ala., one of two U.S. cities so far that are importing medicines from Canada in hopes of saving money. The FDA said Expedite-Rx’s supplies could put those people at risk.
Documents from Montgomery’s program and Expedite-Rx’s Web site ”clearly showed they were in violation of federal law,” said FDA pharmacy affairs director Tom McGinnis. ”The agency’s going to move aggressively against anybody breaking federal law and putting public health at risk.”Calls to Expedite-Rx and Montgomery’s city attorney weren’t immediately returned.
So far, the FDA hasn’t targeted consumers buying the drugs, including Montgomery and the other city pushing the practice, Springfield, Mass. Numerous states are considering similar programs, despite repeated FDA warnings that the practice is illegal.
Instead, it targets their suppliers. Last year, FDA won a court’s backing to shut down one major drug importer, Rx Depot. Springfield’s supplier, CanaRx, shut its U.S. offices and moved to Canada after the FDA threatened to shut down the business; now the FDA is pushing Canadian authorities to take further action to stop its shipments.
Texas’ pharmacy board ordered Expedite-Rx to quit processing prescription orders last July, saying it doesn’t even hold the needed license to do business in the state, FDA noted. But the company continued operating.
The FDA says it cannot guarantee the safety of drugs bought abroad, or even that imported drugs come from Canada as claimed instead of originating in other countries, like Thailand. In stopping incoming shipments, the government has intercepted pills made of sugar, controlled substances, animal drugs sold for human use and drugs with other problems.
Brand-name prescription drugs can cost half the U.S. price.
In Thursday’s warning, the FDA also cited two other Temple-based companies that it believes are related to Expedite-Rx: SPC Global Technologies Inc., an insurance claims processor, and Employer Health Options Inc., an insurance company.
FDA tries to shut down company importing drugs
January 22, 2004
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