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Oct Canadian Pharmacy News
Issue #3, October 2003
Medisave Launches Revamped Website with Enhanced
Functionality
MediSave.ca
is pleased to release several enhancements to our website. The website
has been revamped to enable our clients to experience a more user-friendly
online shopping experience. Our website now has a complete shopping
cart system whereby customers can order their specific medications
and quantities online.
Please visit our website to take a firsthand look at how our online
shopping system now works. New and existing customers can now join
and order directly online. Please enjoy this new prescription shopping
experience. We welcome any feedback that you can provide.
Become a Medisave.ca
customer today and begin saving.
Illinois Governor Puts Pressure
on FDA to Allow Rx Reimportation From Canada
By Maura Kelly
Tribune staff reporter
October 14, 2003, 4:36 PM CDT
Gov. Rod Blagojevich is enlisting the help of consumers in his high-profile
battle with the Food and Drug Administration over a proposal to import drugs
from Canada for state employees and retirees.
On Tuesday, he launched a Web site that includes information about buying
prescription drugs from companies in Canada to take advantage of lower
prices there.
He also encouraged consumers to fill out an online petition in support of
the proposal and appeared on NBC's "Today" show to discuss the idea, which
the FDA and Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert oppose.
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"The FDA can continue to ignore our pleas. The FDA can continue to ignore
our letters. They can ignore our calls," Blagojevich said at a news
conference. "But they cannot ignore the people forever."
The launching of the Web site and petition is the latest move by Blagojevich
to persuade Congress to allow Illinois to import drugs from Canada, where
brand-name drugs often cost less than in the United States because of
government price controls and a favorable exchange rate.
Illinois spent $340 million on prescription drugs for its employees and
retirees last fiscal year, up 15 percent from a year earlier.
But federal law prevents bringing foreign drugs into the country. The FDA
warns that buying Canadian drugs presents significant, potential health
risks.
"You really can't trade safety for a price," said Peter Pitts, FDA
spokesman.
"He (Blagojevich) can target whomever he likes. But at the end of the day,
Congress makes the laws and the FDA enforces the law," he said.
Last month, Blagojevich commissioned a study on the merits of letting state
employees and retirees buy drugs from Canadian companies. Four days later,
he publicly urged the FDA to allow state and local governments to import
drugs from Canada and solicited support for his idea from the nation's other
governors.
A week later, he lobbied Congress on the idea. He also has asked Attorney
General Lisa Madigan's office to look into whether drug manufacturers are
illegally blocking access to cheaper prescription drugs from Canada.
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Last week, an 11-member delegation of Illinois health and policy officials
visited Canada as part of the study on the issue. The governor said he
expects the study, which should be finished by the end of October, to show
the idea is sound.
"We're not going to violate what the FDA's rules are, but we are going to
try to get the FDA to change its position and one way to do it is through
the United States Congress," Blagojevich said. "The Congress doesn't act or
doesn't change things unless they hear from the people back home."
The petition is addressed to the FDA and members of Congress.
The Web site includes information about the differences between American and
Canadian drug prices, activity in Congress on the issue and editorials in
support of drug importation efforts. The site, www.affordabledrugs.il.gov,
also contains a price comparison chart of drugs bought in the United States
and Canada.
Jeffrey Trewhitt, a spokesman for the drug industry trade group
Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, said the petition
should not make a difference in changing the law.
"It's very important that we all stop and listen carefully to what the Food
and Drug Administration is saying. They are saying there is a serious safety
issue," he said.
Petition site: www.affordabledrugs.il.gov
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Medisave.ca
Now Ships Lexapro to Treat Depression
Order
Lexapro Online Now
Lexapro (escitalopram oxalate) is a prescription
medication for the treatment of depression.
Lexapro is an antidepressant that is the newest member of the family
of medications known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors
(SSRIs). Lexapro was developed by isolating a part of the CELEXATM
(citalopram HBr) molecule, known as an isomer. As a result, Lexapro
appears to offer some particular advantages in the treatment of
depression:
In clinical trials, Lexapro 10 mg/day demonstrated comparable efficacy
to a higher dose of CELEXA 40 mg/day. Lexapro significantly improved
depression for many patients beginning at week 1 or 2 (full antidepressant
effect may take 4 to 6 weeks).
At 10 mg/day, overall incidence of side effects and dropout rates
due to adverse events were comparable to placebo.
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Lexapro helps to restore the brain's chemical balance by increasing
the available supply of serotonin, a substance in the brain believed
to influence mood. Evidence suggests an imbalance of serotonin,
a chemical messenger in the brain, is an important factor in the
development and severity of depressive symptoms, such as sad mood,
fatigue, lack of pleasure, etc. Lexapro appears to work by increasing
the available supply of serotonin.
The chemical messenger serotonin is released from one nerve cell
and passed to the next.
In depression, too much serotonin is reabsorbed by the first nerve
cell. This decreases the amount of serotonin available for the next
nerve cell. Lexapro blocks the reabsorbtion of serotonin by the
first nerve cell. This increases the amount of serotonin available
for the next nerve cell.
By correcting the imbalance of the supply of serotonin, Lexapro
improves symptoms of depression.
Because Lexapro appears to relieve depression by increasing serotonin
levels with minimal effect on many of the other chemicals in the
brain, it may cause relatively few and mild side effects, which
generally tend to go away with continued treatment.
Order
Lexapro Online Now
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Medisave.ca
Now Ships a Full Range of Oral Contraceptive Medication
We
now offer a full range of oral contraceptive medications to our
clients.
We require a prescription from your doctor to process these orders.
Please review the medications and prices in our drug information
section.
Birth
Control Drugs - Learn More about our Oral Contraceptive Medication
and Order Today!
Let Us Know What You Think
We would love to hear what you think of this issue of
our newsletter and our prescription service. And of course, if you have
any suggestions for upcoming issues that you'd like to share with us,
please send those too! Email us at customerservice@medisave.ca
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