The American Pharmacists Association and Canadian Pharmacists Association have issued a joint statement opposing U.S. federal legislation authorizing personal and commercial importation of prescription drugs from Canada.
WASHINGTON, Feb. 28, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- The American Pharmacists Association (APhA) and Canadian Pharmacists Association (CPhA) have issued a joint statement opposing U.S. federal legislation authorizing personal and commercial importation of prescription drugs from Canada.
“While we recognize the desire to address affordability issues in the U.S., we strongly oppose the importation of prescription drugs from Canada because of the risks these policies pose to patient safety and continuity of care,” said APhA CEO Thomas E. Menighan, BSPharm, MBA, ScD (Hon), FAPhA.
The associations’ top concerns center on patient safety and optimal medication use. When pharmacists dispense medications, they review and assess all available health information to ensure that medications are safe and appropriate for their patients. This includes identifying possible drug interactions and other adverse events and communicating and resolving any concerns with the patients’ prescribers.
Canadian pharmacies may only dispense medications prescribed by a Canadian prescriber. “This regulation is in place to protect the safety of patients by ensuring that physicians and pharmacists have established relationships with their patients and knowledge of their medical histories,” said CPhA CEO Glen Doucet. “Recently proposed personal drug importation policies pose additional challenges that have not been contemplated.”
While potentially creating additional patient access issues such as Canadian drug shortages and recalls that impact patient safety, importation policies may encourage patients to purchase medications from online pharmacies, but some online pharmacies can turn out to be entities selling counterfeit drugs and operating outside Canadian and American laws. These entities are difficult to detect and control due to their sophistication and the large number in operation. Should the importation policies advance in U.S. federal legislation, the associations expect an influx of U.S. patients receiving illicit, counterfeit, or otherwise harmful products from websites posing as Canadian online pharmacies.
“As organizations representing Canadian and American pharmacists, CPhA and APhA are eager to protect patients and clarify the implications of drug importation policies on patients and health care providers in our countries,” Menighan noted.
About the American Pharmacists Association
The American Pharmacists Association, founded in 1852 as the American Pharmaceutical Association, is a 501 (c)(6) organization, representing 60,000 practicing pharmacists, pharmaceutical scientists, student pharmacists, pharmacy technicians and others interested in advancing the profession. APhA is dedicated to helping all pharmacists improve medication use and advance patient care and is the first-established and largest association of pharmacists in the United States. For more information, please visit www.pharmacist.com.
About the Canadian Pharmacists Association
The Canadian Pharmacists Association (CPhA) is the uniting national voice of pharmacy and the pharmacist profession in Canada. As pharmacists undertake an enhanced role in the delivery of health care services, CPhA ensures that the profession is recognized as a national leader in health care, influencing the policies, programs, budgets and initiatives affecting the profession and the health of Canadians. More information is available at www.pharmacists.ca.
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SOURCE American Pharmacists Association
