Canada's drug supply threat "not real"

Canada's federal government has dismissed, for the time being, the notion that the country's supplies of prescription drugs is under threat from the possibility of massive exportation to the USA. The claim has been circulating as the result of recent legislative moves by US Senator David Vitter (Republican, Louisiana) and the presumed support of the newly-elected Democratic majority in both Houses of Congress (Marketletters passim).

The Canadian Pharmacists Association recently wrote to Canada's federal Health Minister, Tony Clement, warning that "full-blown" legalization of parallel trade by the USA would suck Canada's cheaper prescription drugs southwards into a larger and more profitable market (Marketletter October 30). One study, put forward by supporters of a ban on Canadian exports, claims that Canada has only 38 days of drug supplies, although the relevance of this figure when compared with other national stocks of important goods is open to question.

Opening US border could be years away