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Cheap Drugs Firm Is Afloat
By
Steven Oberbeck
AMERICAN FORK - A state licensing enforcement agent tried
to shut down a fledgling Utah company that promises to save Utah senior
citizens money by helping them import prescription medications from
Canada. But two weeks after Utah Division of Professional and
Occupation Licensing agent Larry Gooch marched into MedsDirectPlus' office
on American Fork's Main Street, the business continues to operate and the
state now contends it is not investigating the company. MedsDirectPlus is a 4-month-old company attempting to
profit from the growing dissatisfaction over high prescription costs.
Founders organized it to help primarily elderly Utahns on fixed incomes
get the medicines they need by exploiting Food and Drug Administration
policies that allow individuals to import for personal use small amounts
of prescription drugs from Canada and other countries. MedsDirectPlus owner Eric VanBrakel said he was shocked
when Gooch entered his office and demanded he shut the business down.
Gooch was adamant, VanBrakel said, that MedsDirectPlus was breaking the
law. "He said something about us operating as an illegal
pharmacy," VanBrakel said. "But that is ridiculous. . . . There
are no medications or drugs in any of our offices. We never touch or even
see the medications that our clients use." MedsDirectPlus, which operates two Utah and three
out-of-state offices, describes itself as a prescription management
company with a twist. It operates by helping its mostly elderly clients,
for a $15 fee, fill out paperwork so they can personally import their
prescription medications. MedsDirectPlus puts them in touch with Canadian
doctors who can expedite the process. Utahns can save up to 70 percent off their monthly
prescription bills by purchasing their medications through Canadian
pharmacies, VanBrakel said. Those pharmacies provide the same medications
U.S. residents receive from their neighborhood druggists. They sell the
medications for less because the Canadian national health care system uses
the buying power of that country's entire population to negotiate prices
and limit how much drug manufacturers can charge. VanBrakel refused to sign the "cease operation
order" Gooch slapped down in front of him. "I told [Gooch] that he needed to tell us why we had
to quit doing business, but he wouldn't or couldn't," VanBrakel said.
"We are not here trying to thumb our noses at the state or anybody
else. But as far as we can tell there is nothing that says you cannot help
people fill out paperwork." Gooch was unavailable for comment Tuesday. His boss, Utah
Division of Professional and Occupation Licensing director of
investigations Steve Davis, declined to discuss the incident described in
an American Fork Police Department report VanBrakel filed after the
confrontation. But Christine Keyser, spokeswoman for the Utah Department
of Commerce, said simply that "there is no investigation of
MedsDirectPlus. Not as far as I can tell." She declined to say whether the state considers it to be
illegal for Utah residents to get prescriptions filled in Canada. In recent years, particularly in states near the
U.S.-Canadian border, U.S. residents have been traveling north to take
advantage of Canada's affordable drug prices. In some states,
congressional representatives, eager to support affordable health care for
the elderly, have led caravans of buses full of senior citizens to
purchase prescriptions in Canada. For many of the elderly, the savings are the difference
between taking the drugs their doctors ordered or doing without. "That was one of the reasons we started this
company," VanBrakel said. "I didn't think it was right that just
because someone lived near the border that they should be the only ones
who get to take advantage of the low prices in Canada." Retired television repairman Al Webber of Orem saves
hundreds of dollars a month on his prescription costs. He used
MedsDirectPlus to help fill out the paperwork. The company helped him
contact a doctor in Canada who consulted with his Utah physician about the
medications he needed. The Canadian doctor wrote a prescription filled by
a pharmacy in British Columbia. "It took about 10 days, but the pharmacy in Canada
mailed my prescriptions directly to me just as promised," Webber
said. "When you are on a limited income and spending $400 to $500 a
month on medication, it's great to be able to save half of what you
normally would pay." Uninsured Americans pay among the highest prices in the
world for prescription drugs. And by all indications, the savings that can
be secured by purchasing prescription medications outside the United
States are enormous. A 180-dose supply of the allergy medication Allegra costs
$209 in U.S. pharmacies but only $81 in Canada, according to
MedsDirectPlus' Web site. Lipitor, a medication that helps control
cholesterol, sells for $121.44 for 60 doses in Canada. In U.S. pharmacies
the average price is $187. And 28 doses of the stomach medication Prilosec
can be purchased in Canada for $65.79 but in the United States it costs
$115.80. In recent years, some U.S. pharmaceutical companies have
started to offer free prescription drug programs for those who can
establish they cannot afford to pay for their medications, said Michael
Siler, spokesman for AARP Utah. On the national level, AARP also offers its own
prescription drug program administered through United Health Care, Siler
said. "And one of that program's benefits is it will help pay for
prescriptions that are filled in Canada that come in across the
border." The FDA contends it cannot guarantee the safety of drugs
made in the United States, sent to Canada, then reimported into this
country, a stand that some blame for slowing the passage of laws that
would formally recognize the legality of U.S. citizens purchasing their
medications abroad. Still, U.S. residents filling their personal prescriptions
outside this country typically are left alone, provided they bring back
only a three-month supply for personal use. "Going to Canada to get prescriptions filled is not
prohibited, but people need to know what the restrictions are -- such as
how much they can bring back," said Jim Michie, spokesman for the
U.S. Bureau of Customs and Border Protection. U.S. residents also must declare their prescriptions to
custom officers when they return to this country. In the case of
mail-order prescriptions, the packages are clearly marked for custom
purposes that there are medications inside, VanBrakel said. "All the medications that our clients receive are delivered in the original unopened manufacturers packaging. They get exactly what they ordered from pharmacies that receive their medications from the exact same pharmaceutical laboratories that supply the pharmacies in this country," he said. Copyright
© 2002 Global Action on Aging
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Eric
VanBrakel's American Fork-based business, MedsDirectPlus, helps Utah
residents import cheaper prescription drugs from Canada.