Is it legal to buy prescriptions from Canada?

[AllyCat]

After all the uproar about Bush's stupid Medicare Modernization...where did this end up? There are all kinds of on-line sites that allow people to buy from Canadian pharmacies. Yet my mom's friend had a shipment "confiscated" a year or two ago.

Does it make a difference if someone is on Medicare, using private insurance, or just buying it outright? What about non-US citizens purchasing from Canada?

[ConcernedCanuk]

1. They are working on it - and it was McCain who initiated the proposal

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A proposal to allow drug imports was introduced today by Senator John McCain, an Arizona Republican defeated by Obama for the presidency, along with Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan, of North Dakota, and Republican Senator Olympia Snowe, of Maine. Obama called for the changes in his budget last week, and views the measure as one way to reduce health-care costs so that medical coverage for the uninsured can be expanded.

Brand-name drugs in other countries cost as much as 70 percent less than in the U.S. Allowing imports would save Americans $50 billion over the next decade, including $10 billion for the U.S. government, the lawmakers said. Dorgan and Snowe previously introduced similar legislation opposed by the pharmaceutical industry and former President George W. Bush.

“We do expect this to pass,” said Julia Wanzco, a spokeswoman for Snowe, in an interview today. “Part of the reason why this is such a big deal right now is because Obama announced in his budget a strong interest in implementing this policy.”

If it becomes law, the legislation “will bring consumers immediate relief and will ultimately force the pharmaceutical industry to lower drug prices in the U.S.,” according to the senators’ statement.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601103&sid=abzWU.GPNrjc&refer=us