By Diane C. Lade, South Florida Sun-Sentinel Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News
Jun. 23--The state board regulating pharmacies wants Floridians to just say no to drugs from Canada.
The Florida Board of Pharmacy has approved a $750,000 media blitz to warn consumers about the dangers of buying from the Canadian connection storefronts that are rapidly popping up throughout the state. The print and newspaper advertisements will begin this fall.
They also will caution against purchasing medications off the Internet.
'People need to be aware they are taking a lot of risks if they are going to unlicensed and unregulated pharmacies,' said state Department of Health spokesman Bill Parizek, whose agency includes the pharmacy board. 'We want to educate the public.'
The $750,000 will come from a $5 unlicensed activity fee that pharmacists pay annually when renewing their licenses.
The move exacerbates the growing tension between the regulatory board and the storeowners, who insist the state is only trying to please the pharmacy industry and shut them down.
Rick Warner, who owns three West and Central Florida storefronts, said he was among about 20 storefront owners who attended the June 9 board meeting where the media campaign was approved. 'They specifically said they were going after Canadian drug-based facilities,' he said.
Warner's storefronts are connected with Discount Drugs of Canada, based in Delray Beach. Started by retired clothing manufacturer Earle Turow nine months ago, the company has 43 affiliates in 13 states, with plans to open another 50 stores by the end of the year.
The issue promises to be touchy if the state does crack down.
Seniors, burdened with rising drug costs as health plans cut coverage, are flocking to Canadian storefronts, and many feel it's their right to economize.
Canadian pharmacies can sell some of the drugs most commonly used by Americans at 30 percent to 50 percent less, as a national health-care plan covers its 33 million citizens and the government negotiates bulk medication prices.
On Friday, the U.S. Senate voted to let drugs be imported from Canada and resold at lower prices, as long as it was determined the practice posed no health risks. But the Food and Drug Administration continues to insist it cannot vouch for the safety of Canadian drugs.
State regulators continue to insist Canadian storefronts are unlicensed pharmacies and, therefore, operating illegally, a stand affirmed by the pharmacy board at its June meeting. But the business owners argue they are an information service, as they neither stock nor mail medications. Prescriptions and paperwork are faxed from the Florida stores to a Canadian pharmacy, where the orders are filled and sent directly to the customer.
Turow calls the proposed advertisements 'a smear campaign,' saying it never has been proven that they are operating illegally or are a danger. 'There's never been a directive from the federal government, or even from the government in Florida, for us to [shut down],' he said.
If the storefronts are indeed pharmacies operating without a license, they are breaking the law and could be fined and closed.
But so far, the agencies that would file those charges have been silent, and no Canadian discount stores in Florida have been shuttered.
Mike Edmundson, spokesman for Palm Beach County State Attorney Barry Krischer, said no state investigative agency had referred any Canadian drug store cases to them. At this time, no Florida law enforcement agency has rendered an opinion on Canadian storefronts, he said.
Information from The Associated Press was used to supplement this report.
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(c) 2003, South Florida Sun-Sentinel. Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.
