Congressman calls for legislation to end Glaxo’s strong arm tactics

WASHINGTON – In a move that is sure to re-ignite the battle in Congress over Americans’ ability to purchase lower price prescription drugs from Canada, pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline has informed Canadian pharmacies and wholesalers who sell into the U.S. that they will no longer be able to buy Glaxo products after January 21, 2003. Rep. Bernard Sanders (I-VT) -- the first member of Congress to take constituents across the border to highlight the disparity in prescription drug prices between the United States and Canada -- responded sharply to Glaxo’s threat, calling it a “direct attack on the health of American prescription drug consumers.”

Glaxo sent letters to each of its wholesalers, distributors and retailers in Canada this week threatening to cut off their supply of life-saving drugs if they sell any of Glaxo’s products to U.S. consumers or to any one of 27 Canadian retailers who sell prescription drugs to U.S. consumers. It is rumored that similar letters from other pharmaceutical companies may be imminent.

While difficult to quantify, the Food and Drug Administration estimates that some two million prescriptions will be filled in Canada for American patients this year. Americans are increasingly looking to Canada to fill their prescriptions because drug companies charge consumers in the U.S. the highest prices in the world for the same medications, generally manufactured in the same plants.

Sanders said that Glaxo is trying to cut off Americans from reasonably priced medicines regardless of the impact on their health, “At a time when millions of Americans are struggling to afford the outrageously high price of prescription drugs in the U.S., Glaxo is trying to slam the door on a safe and affordable source of medicine for an increasing number of Americans, namely Canada. The outrage is that for some of these people this really is a matter of life and death. Once again, Glaxo is showing that for the pharmaceutical industry the health of their corporate coffers always comes before the health of American patients.”

In recent years, the U.S. House of Representatives has repeated voted in favor of preserving individual American’s ability to buy prescription medications for their own personal use in Canada. Just this week, Senator Daschle introduced a prescription drug bill that would fully authorize the purchase of prescription medicines from Canada.

Sanders predicted the U.S. House would act to protect Americans who buy medicines from Canada and pledged to introduce legislation to prevent Glaxo and other drug companies from strong arming Canadian pharmacies and wholesalers. “The U.S. Congress cannot sit idly by while Glaxo or any pharmaceutical company cuts off American consumers who are already getting safe, affordable prescription medications from Canada. The first bill I will introduce in the 108th Congress will put an end to this pharmaceutical company bullying.”

A copy of the Glaxo letter is available upon request.

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