Nevada to Launch Canadian Drug Import Site Next Week
The decision by the Nevada regulators to allow Canadian drug imports brings again the question of whether the power to approve the sale of prescription drugs across national borders rests with the federal or with state governments.
According to Reuters the regulators gave the Web site its final nod after thinking over a review by the state’s attorney general, who has shown some resistance to the legislature’s approval.
Similar efforts have been taken by other states and local governments to trying to escape rising prescription drug prices by looking for cheaper alternatives in countries like Canada. In March, the Oklahoma Senate approved a measure that would allow for pharmacists and whole sale drug distributors to reimport less expensive drugs from Canada, Switzerland and EU member nations (See Drug Reimport Bill Advances in Oklahoma ).
The US Senate Commerce committee threw its support behind a bill in 2005 that would allow for the reimportation of cheaper Canadian drugs (See Senate Committee Endorses Drug Reimportation Provision ).