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Sept Canadian Pharmacy News
Issue #2, September 2003
No Shortages of Phizer Products at MediSave.ca
At MediSave, we have an ample supply and anticipate
no shortages of Pfizer products at this time. Be reassured, we at
MediSave will do our best to provide our valued American customers
with affordable Pfizer medications.
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Congressmen Support Drug Reimportation
Plan
By Ceci Connolly Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, September 1, 2003
CHICAGO
Fed up with paying top dollar for the pills that thin their blood,
lower their cholesterol and soothe their aching joints, the seniors
poured into the community center here with one request: They want
the right to buy their medications from whichever country has the
best price, whether it's Canada, Ireland, Australia or the United
States.
"If it's cheaper in Canada, why not?" asked Paul Frost, 73. Even
with four drug discount cards, he shops at three pharmacies to save
$2 on the insulin that keeps his diabetes in check.
Frost's question is music to Reps. Rahm Emanuel and Gil Gutknecht,
the congressional odd couple pitching just such a plan. So far,
Emanuel, an Illinois Democrat, and Gutknecht, a Minnesota Republican,
are winning the fight, despite opposition from corporate and political
heavyweights. In defiance of the Bush administration, Republican
congressional leaders and the pharmaceutical industry, the House
in July approved a bill that would allow Americans to shop for prescription
medications outside the United States.
The 243 to 186 vote, with 87 Republicans in favor, rattled Capitol
Hill, where seasoned vote-counters had predicted a 50-vote victory
for the drug industry.
The fervor expressed at the Chicago gathering helps explain why
so many Washington insiders were caught off guard -- and why the
proposal's opponents anticipate a difficult fight this fall. Unlike
many legislative battles, the debate over drug prices directly affects
virtually every American and is especially salient with retirees
who lack prescription drug coverage.
Pharmaceutical companies say drug reimportation, as it is known,
could bring unsafe medicines into the United States -- and they
have partnered with the Food and Drug Administration to make that
case. But many voters, particularly in retirement complexes such
as North Park Village, are embracing the idea and urging their representatives
to do the same.
"The fact the pharmaceutical companies control what we get is just
so ass-backwards," said Linda Engberg. "There should be something
more radical we can do."
The rebellion began quietly, with an unlikely leader.
"A few years ago it was me, my charts and a handful of radical seniors,"
Gutknecht said. Once a loyal foot soldier in Newt Gingrich's 1994
GOP takeover of the House, Gutknecht has fallen from favor with
his party. But late one night, in the deserted House chamber, he
picked up an unlikely partner: Emanuel, the fast-talking freshman
who mastered the art of partisan warfare in the Clinton White House.
The bipartisan pair is crisscrossing the country this month, hoping
to put grass-roots pressure on the Senate, which did not adopt the
House's broad reimportation plan. When Congress returns next week,
House-Senate negotiators will tackle the issue as part of a massive
Medicare prescription drug bill. After opening on Emanuel's turf,
the road show went to Gutknecht's district last Monday.
"We need this one," Ron Gregory, 72, told Gutknecht as the lawmaker
moved from table to table in the community center. "Prescription-wise,
I'm broke every month."
In Washington, the smart money is betting against Gutknecht and
Emanuel. Food and Drug Administration chief Mark McClellan says
his agency cannot guarantee the safety of drugs from Canada and
Europe. In a letter to lawmakers, McClellan said the House bill
would "erode" the FDA's ability to oversee the nation's drug supply
and create "a wide channel for large volumes of unapproved drugs,"
including counterfeits, to flood the U.S. market.
Six hundred lobbyists for the pharmaceutical industry -- which has
made more than $40 million in political contributions in the past
four years -- have campaigned vigorously against reimportation.
Within hours of the House bill's passage, 53 senators signed a letter
opposing the provision. With House leaders and most senators lined
up against the proposal, Gutknecht and Emanuel face long odds in
conference committee.
"These guys are sincere, but the rest of those clowns in Washington,
I don't know," Gregory said. "The drug companies have all those
lobbyists. It's all, 'You scratch my back, I'll scratch yours' down
there."
But Gutknecht and Emanuel say the pharmacy industry, like tobacco
in the late 1990s, may have pushed too hard this time. They say
the 53 senators were embarrassed when it was revealed that pharmaceutical
lobbyists had drafted their letter.
More damaging was a batch of letters the industry sent to antiabortion
lawmakers, warning that reimportation would make RU-486, called
the "abortion pill," as easy to get as aspirin. That medication,
like all others, would still require a prescription under the proposed
legislation.
On the day Gutknecht and Emanuel met with the North Park seniors,
the morning papers reported that Pfizer was joining three other
drug manufacturers in a plan to drastically limit supplies to Canada.
The company said the move was necessary to keep patients safe, but
others interpreted it as a thinly veiled threat to reimportation
proponents.
"That type of intimidation politics is backfiring," Emanuel said.
"They played their hand horribly. If they're going to play hardball,
we have an obligation to push back."
Jeffrey Trewhitt, spokesman for the Pharmaceutical Research and
Manufacturers of America, would not discuss political strategy but
said the industry's objections stem from FDA concerns that "reimported
medicines [are] unsafe and risky for patients."
AARP, the nation's largest advocacy group for people older than
50, has sided with Gutknecht and Emanuel, although with the caveat
it prefers a three-year Canadian pilot program. Mike Naylor, AARP's
director of advocacy, said drug representatives miscalculated when
they asked AARP to join an anti-importation campaign spearheaded
by "all the phony groups that drive us crazy," such as the Christian
Seniors Association, which rely heavily on industry support.
An experienced lobbyist, Naylor has been struck by the reimportation
issue's punch. After observing several focus groups and attending
the Chicago meeting, he concluded that Gutknecht and Emanuel have
tapped into two potent forces: the yawning price gap and the "almost
unqualified low esteem in which the big drug manufacturers are held."
The high cost of medicine is a topic so vital and visceral to elderly
Americans that it can prompt otherwise polite grandmothers to fling
epithets at faceless, nameless drug executives.
"You bastards," said a petite, white-haired woman attending the
Chicago meeting. "You're robbing us blind."
Although the FDA opposes legalizing reimportation, the agency has
been reluctant to prosecute individual violators, in part fearful
of the image of federal officials rounding up elderly people seeking
essential medications."
The FDA works for us," Gutknecht told the Chicago crowd. "You should
not be treated like common criminals for wanting to get a fair price!"
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New Erectile Dysfunction Drugs Now Available
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Pfizer Moves to Stem Canadian Drug Imports
Pfizer Says:
- Americans can't buy drugs from Canada!
- They will cut off supply to all Canadian Pharmacists!
- It needs Americans money for research!
- It is unsafe to buy drugs from Canada!
MediSave Says:
- Americans can buy drugs from Canada!
- MediSave will supply Americans with safe, affordable prescription
drugs!
- Americans need their money to enjoy life and should be able
to afford medication!
- It is safe to buy drugs from Canada!
Can You Believe This?
The world's largest drug maker, Pfizer, is attempting to stop providing
its drugs to Canadian pharmacies and wholesalers who supply an estimated
one million uninsured and under insured American seniors with affordable
high quality medications. If Pfizer gets its way, all drug makers
will likely follow its lead and eventually strip seniors of their
well-established right to access affordable drugs from alternative
sources.
Fight Back to Stop Pfizer Now:
1. Contact the U.S. Congress switchboard in Washington, DC at 1-202-224-3121,
ask for the names and phone numbers of your House and Senate members,
and call them to share your concerns. Or, visit http://www.congress.org
to learn your legislators' e-mail addresses and send them a note.
2. Call Pfizer's toll-free consumer hotline at 1-800-223-0182 and
give your views to the live operator.
3. Write Pfizer's U.S. CEO and tell him to stop the restrictions
being placed on Canadian drugs: Mr. Henry A. McKinnell, Jr., chairman
and CEO, Pfizer Inc., 235 East 42nd Street, New York, NY 10017.
4. If you have been buying your Pfizer drugs from a Canadian pharmacy
and cannot afford the high U.S. pharmacy prices, check with your
doctor to see if there is a comparable drug made by another drug
maker that you can switch to.
5. Consider selling any Pfizer stock that you currently hold either
directly or through a pension fund. Pfizer stock is listed as "PFE"
on the New York Stock Exchange.
6. You may want to consider swtiching from these Pfizer over-the-counter
treatments to those made by other manufacturers. The company's products
include the following brands: Benadryl, Cortisone, Desitin, e.p.t.,
Listerine, Lubriderm, Neosporin, Rolaids, Sudafed, and Visine.
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MediSave Now Ships Crestor and Spiriva
Crestor
Chemical Name: Rosuvastatin
Calcium
Available Doses: 10, 20, 40mg
Discount Price Example: Dose=10mg Quantity=90 Manufacturer=Astra-Zeneca
MediSave Discount Price = $122.00 US
CRESTOR belongs to a group of drugs called HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors
(also known as statins). HMG-CoA reductase is an enzyme involved
in the regulation of lipids in the body. CRESTOR is usually used
along with changes to diet and exercise to reduce the levels of
lipids in the blood. If high lipid levels are left untreated, they
can build up in the walls of the vessels carrying blood around the
body which, over time, can lead to narrowing of these vessels. This
disease is called atherosclerosis and is one of the most common
causes of heart disease. CRESTOR belongs to a group of drugs called
HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors (also known as statins).
Crestor Side Effects: Crestor side effects rarely can occur.
Contact your doctor right away if you have any of the following:
- muscle pain that you can't explain.
- muscle tenderness or soreness.
- general weakness, especially if you do not feel well.
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Spiriva
Chemical Name: Tiotropium bromide monohydrate
Available Doses: 18mcg capsules with hand inhaler
Discount Price Example: Dose=18mcg Quantity= 3
Manufacturer=Boehringer Ingelheim
MediSave Discount Price = $225.00 US
Spiriva?Inhalation Powder contains tiotropium bromide monohydrate.
Tiotropium bromide monohydrate is used as a long-acting bronchodilator
for the maintenance treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease
(COPD). Spiriva, a once-daily treatment, has proven more effective
in clinical trials than Boehringer's Atrovent, an inhaled drug given
three times a day that has been the standard of care for COPD for
over a decade. Both medicines help open the airways by blocking
action of the brain messenger chemical acetylcholine. Capsule comes
with Handinhaler.
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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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