Missouri joins prescription drug import program

Missouri is the third state to join I-SaveRx, the first state-sponsored prescription drug program allowing citizens to make purchases through a Canadian clearinghouse. Program officials claim members can save up to 50 percent of the cost of most common medications.

Gov. Bob Holden announced Missouri’s membership Oct. 28, joining Illinois, whose governor started the program, and Wisconsin as the first I-SaveRx members.

Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich started the program Oct. 4 despite U.S. Food and Drug Administration concerns. Illinois’ request last year for FDA approval of the program was rejected. The FDA has said it cannot guarantee the safety of prescriptions bought from foreign pharmacies.

Holden said in a press release that the program is an opportunity to help cut prescription costs safely.

“I am confident this is a system that offers both safety and savings,” he said. “We anticipate a savings of hundreds if not thousands of dollars on medicine. This is especially important to our senior citizens and those without insurance.”

The Missouri Pharmacy Association opposes Holden’s decision. A day after Missouri joined the program MPA unveiled an anti-I-SaveRx campaign. The state pharmacy group launched the Missouri Pharmacy Patients’ Bill of Rights, which lays out the services and guarantees patients can expect when they have a prescription filled in Missouri, and a statewide newspaper advertising campaign called “Waive Goodbye to Your Rights.” The Illinois Pharmacists Association started an identical campaign following Blagojevich’s program launch.

The FDA supports Missouri Pharmacy Association’s campaign.

Thomas J. McGinnis, the FDA’s director of pharmacy affairs in the office of policy, said the new program is not safe.

“Missouri has joined the Illinois program and is urging consumers to be confident that they can buy drugs safely (through I-SaveRx), while at the same time asking them to sign a waiver that says the state of Missouri can’t assure a drug’s safety,” McGinnis said in a release. “You can’t have it both ways. The presence of the waiver in the I-SaveRx application and the accompanying disclaimers of responsibility for dispensed prescription drugs leads the FDA to conclude that Missouri and the wholesalers who supply the drugs to Missouri patients will not stand behind these products.”

I-SaveRx members – already more than 1,700 strong in Illinois and Wisconsin – can access lower-priced prescription drugs through a network of 45 inspected and approved pharmacies and wholesalers in Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland, according to program officials. Only prescription refills are available, so patients and their doctors know of unexpected or unusual side effects and interactions. Before ordering prescriptions, new participants must mail or have their doctor fax a completed health profile form and a signed prescription to the clearinghouse, administered by CanaRx.

The three governors stand behind the safety and quality of the drugs available through the program.

“(I-SaveRx) relies only on pharmacies that have passed rigorous inspections and Illinois has done an outstanding job of researching and providing appropriate oversights,” Holden said. “The federal government’s refusal to stand up to the drug companies has penalized our citizens for too long. This is a program that will help Missourians, and it will also help force a change in drug policies in this country.”

Through I-SaveRx contacts in Europe, the Blagojevich administration has secured more than 200,000 doses of flu vaccine to combat shortage in Illinois and other states, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health. Illinois is awaiting FDA approval before administering the vaccines.

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