By Crystal D. Swann
January 12, 2004

Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino has joined a growing number of state and municipal leaders investigating the feasibility of importing prescription drugs for their employees and retirees. Currently, only two cities have successfully implemented drug purchasing programs and six states and municipalities are planning to launch programs. Costs savings and the exclusion of meaningful importation language in the newly passed Prescription Drug Medicare bill are just a few reasons cited as why states and cities taking matters into their own hands.

Boston, the largest U.S. city in the adopt-a-drug purchasing program, said it plans to begin buying prescription drugs for 7000 city employees this summer. It expects to save $2 million per year. Springfield (MA), by the end of last year, had saved $1 million since implementing its drug-purchasing program last summer. Under both plans, employees and retirees are allowed to buy the cheaper drugs from Canada. Montgomery's drug purchasing program, which began over one year ago, estimates its saved the city $400,000 — $500,000 in its first year.

In the early 1950s, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) had an informal policy of compassionate use that allowed individuals to reimport drugs from other countries. According the Tom McGinnis, FDA Director of Pharmacy Affairs, during an interview on kaisernetwork.org., said, "The policy began which many drugs were approved in other countries before they were approved in the United States. So the FDA wanted to allow consumers, working with their physicians to go to other countries to procure medications that might be beneficial to their condition." Many seniors engage in online purchasing of their prescriptions sometimes finding 25-33 percent saving from Canadian distributors. The FDA, however, has repeated said it is unsafe, and almost never legal to import prescription drugs because they may not meet U.S. standards. To date, the FDA has focused its direct enforcement powers on commercial entities that seek to make a profit by assisting individuals to reimport prescription drugs.

When President Bush signed the new prescription drug bill many experts were concerned the drug importation language was innocuous and ineffectual. The bill forbids drug importation from Canada "unless specified by the Department of Health and Human Services" — something this department has declined to do. The bill excluded any federal drug pricing controls that many feel are need to stem the tide of increasing drug costs to the federal government of state and local authorities.

Both sides agree that there are legal, health and political risks involved however both city and state officials have joined together in the common goal of helping citizens import cheaper prescription drugs and significantly impact state and local budgets.