North Carolina sues stores over drug reimportation from Canada

A federal case against a company linking U.S. citizens with Canadian prescriptions also continues to wind through court.

By Tanya Albert, amednews staff. Nov. 17, 2003.

As talk about reimporting prescription drugs from Canada continues to heat up, so do the legal actions.

The North Carolina Board of Pharmacy in October filed a lawsuit against five companies it asked earlier this year to close.

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Like other prescription drug storefronts in the news recently, the North Carolina companies helped patients get their prescriptions and medical records to Canadian pharmacies, which would fill the prescriptions and then mail the drugs directly to the patients.

After the lawsuit was filed in state court, two of the five companies stopped this practice, said David R. Work, the pharmacy board's executive director.

But the lawsuit continues against the three others: Canada Drug Outlet Inc. in Concord, N.C.; Canadian Meds of Asheville; and Discount Drugs of Canada in Gastonia.

"Safety is a big concern," he said. "We are concerned about drugs that come in from outside the United States. For example, they may not have the same active ingredients as drugs being sold here."

The lawsuit seeks an injunction against the stores in part because it is illegal for companies not licensed with the North Carolina Board of Pharmacy to use in their name, sign, letter or advertisement such terms as drug, pharmacy, prescription drugs, prescriptions, Rx or other words that imply the person, firm or corporation is licensed or registered to practice pharmacy in the state.

Officials at Canada Drug Outlet did not want to comment because of the pending litigation. A phone number listed with information for Canadian Meds of Asheville now rings at Canadian Med Service. A woman who answered the phone said she knew nothing of a lawsuit against Canadian Meds of Asheville.

Bob Coon, who was a co-owner of Discount Drugs of Canada, said the company had closed down after the state issued a "cease and desist order" in June. He and others opened a new firm, DD of Canada American Processing Center. Coon said it does not advertise and does not see or touch any of the prescription drugs. Consequently, he doesn't believe it needs a state license.

"Primarily we are order processors," Coon said.

He said the new firm simply helps patients get pricing information, gets their medical history and forwards the information to a pharmacy in Canada. It accepts no money from the patients, he said. The company also deals with pharmacies in the United States.

Court hearings for the companies are scheduled for this month.

These lawsuits come after the U.S. Dept. of Justice in September sued two firms, Rx Depot Canada LLC and Rx Depot Inc., in federal court in Oklahoma to try to stop them from doing business. A judge held a hearing on the lawsuit in early October but had not issued a ruling at press time.