The Minnesota Senior Federation began a nationwide boycott of Pfizer Inc. on Monday, accusing the drug giant of endangering the health of seniors by cutting off the supply of prescription drugs to Americans through Canada.

"The company says it's taking these actions against the Canadian pharmacies for reasons of patient safety," said Barbara Kaufman, federation president. "But the federation and other consumer groups believe it's really concerned about sales and profits." 

In January, Pfizer cut off supplies to more than 70 Canadian mail-order pharmacies that supply an estimated 1 million Americans with drugs at prices far cheaper than in the United States because of Canadian price regulations. Last month it temporarily cut off supplies to two wholesalers that it said supplied drugs to mail-order pharmacies.

The federation's "Pfix Pfizer" campaign asks consumers to stop buying Pfizer over-the-counter products such as Rolaids antacid and Sudafed cold medicine. The federation said it wants to persuade Pfizer to resume supplying drugs to the mail-order pharmacies -- "an action we do not expect," Kaufman said. In coming days, the campaign will include demonstrations by consumer groups at Pfizer's headquarters in New York City and at the company's April 22 shareholder meeting in St. Louis, where Gov. Tim Pawlenty will speak in support of a shareholder resolution critical of recent Pfizer price increases. 

"Of course, we disagree with their analysis of the problem, although we share their concern with helping people who are having difficulty affording medications," said Pfizer spokesman Jack Cox. "We think the solution is better insurance, not importing drugs or instituting price controls."

The federation checked prices of 13 Pfizer drugs and found they were on average 42 percent cheaper in Canada than in the Twin Cities. Of the 13 drugs, only Viagra cost less in Minnesota. The best-selling cholesterol medication Lipitor was 41 percent cheaper in Canada. 

Pfizer's plan to cut off supplies to exporters is succeeding, and many mail-order pharmacies are nearing the end of their Pfizer supplies, said David Mackay, executive director of the Canadian mail-order trade group. "Some of them soon may be unable to supply Pfizer products," he said. Two Canadian pharmacies featured on a Web site started by the state of Minnesota in January apparently have an adequate stock of Pfizer drugs for now, said Kevin Goodno, commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Human Services.

Senior federation officials said a similar "Tums Down" campaign they led last year against drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline, which makes the heartburn medication Tums, helped mobilize support for House passage of a drug-importation bill sponsored by Rep. Gil Gutknecht, R-Minn.

"We're hoping this campaign will help build support for a similar bill" offered last week by Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa, said Peter Wyckoff, the group's executive director.

"Sure, this is a David-and-Goliath struggle," said 84-year-old Kate Stahl, who is in charge of the Pfix Pfizer campaign. "But the lives of thousands of older people are at stake. We have to convince Pfizer to recognize that its bottom line includes more than huge profits."