Colorado finally has federal permission to start importing cheaper prescription drugs from Canada, but the state may not have any sellers to work with.
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Lawmakers passed a bill in 2019 that directed the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing to seek federal permission to import selected drugs, including the popular weight-loss medication Ozempic, at a nearly 50% discount.
The request slowly worked through the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s process during the end of the first Trump administration and through the Biden years.
Gov. Jared Polis called Monday’s FDA approval a “vital first step” toward saving consumers money. The state estimated importation could save about $46 million on 20 medications over three years.
“Now more than ever, we need to call on drug manufacturers to step up to the plate and stop ripping off consumers with inflated drug costs by putting profits over people. Enough is enough,” he said in a statement.
Canada has rules in place to prevent drug manufacturers from selling to U.S. buyers if those sales could contribute to a shortage, however. The Canadian government places price controls on drugs, meaning they typically retail for less than in the United States.
In addition, major drug manufacturers’ contracts generally don’t allow their Canadian factories to sell to the American market.
Colorado is working with 10 drugmakers to encourage them to allow sales, said Marc Williams, spokesman for the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing. They include Abbvie, Amgen, BMS, Gilead, Pfizer, J&J, Merck, Novo Nordisk, Vertex and Viiv Healthcare, he said.
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Other include the cystic fibrosis drug Trikafta, the blood thinner Eliquis and the diabetes medication Januvia. Projected discounts range from 18% to 68%, depending on the medication.
Once the state has suppliers, it will start working on the process for Colorado pharmacies to participate, Williams said. Ultimately, patients would need to check if their pharmacy participates and if their health insurance covers imported drugs, he said. Any imported medications would have to go through quality testing before reaching patients.
Florida received permission to start importing in January 2024, but has yet to bring any Canadian drugs to its residents. At least five other states have also requested authorization.
The Partnership for Safe Medicines, a nonprofit funded by the pharmaceutical industry and state pharmacy associations, described Colorado’s attempt at importation as “misguided.”
“Florida has spent $132 million and still not imported a single unit of medicine, proving that these bulk importation programs are not reducing drug costs for Americans,” executive director Shabbir Imber Safdar said in a statement. “Colorado’s program will not result in lower-cost medicines for its residents but could drain funds from the state’s coffers, ultimately doing a disservice to all Coloradans.”
Individuals sometimes purchase drugs online with the understanding that they come from Canada, but run the risk of getting counterfeit medications if the source isn’t what it appears to be.
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