The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (news - web sites) has officially denied a petition from Gov. Rod Blagojevich for a pilot program to buy prescription drugs from Canada. Blagojevich and officials in other states have been pushing the Bush administration to change its policy prohibiting Canadian drug imports in a bid to save the state money on drug costs. The Food and Drug Administration (news - web sites), which is part of the Health and Human Services (news - web sites) Department, opposes importation from Canada because it cannot guarantee the medicine’s safety, officials had said.
