The governors of Illinois and Wisconsin on Monday launched the first state-sponsored program to help residents buy cheaper prescription drugs from Europe and Canada–despite federal laws banning prescription drug importation.
The program, called I-SaveRx, works through a Canada-based clearinghouse and claims it can save residents 25 percent to
50 percent off U.S. retail prices on about 100 prescription medications.
“Our program is about giving the people of Illinois access to prescription drugs that are in every way exactly the same as those we use here in the United States except for one big difference–the price,” Gov. Blagojevich said at a news conference with Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle and U.S. Rep. Rahm Emanuel (D-Ill.).
By including pharmacies in Ireland and the UK, I-SaveRx goes beyond programs in other states that direct residents on how to buy prescription drugs from Canada, where drugs are often cheaper because of government price controls.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration opposes the importation of prescription drugs, saying it can’t guarantee the safety of drugs sold through foreign pharmacies.
“The governor, instead of following established legal avenues to change the law, is instead creating a program that would violate the law by causing the importation of drugs that are themselves illegal,” said William Hubbard, FDA associate commissioner.
Prescription drugs purchased from a country in the European Union could come from any other EU country without additional regulation, Hubbard said. He said Irish officials also had said it is illegal to mail-order prescription drugs in Ireland.
