Washington Editor

GlaxoSmithKline plc's decision to reduce shipments to Canadian companies known to resell discounted products in the U.S. has provided lawmakers with fodder to lash out at the drug industry and to rethink previously unsuccessful reimportation legislation.

It all started earlier this year when London-based GSK said it would do its part to stop fueling illegal cross-border prescription drug sales by cutting supplies to certain wholesalers and Internet-based companies that refused to stop exporting to the U.S. Such a decision inflamed certain members of Congress who believe GSK is just trying to protect its profits.

Rep. Joseph Crowley (D-N.Y.) and a host of others, including Bernard Sanders (I-Vt.), sent a letter to GSK CEO Jean-Pierre Garnier urging him to reconsider his position. "We are concerned that you will only be willing to supply CrossBorderPharmacy.com [Canadian Internet pharmacy] with the stipulation that they do not export your products to the U.S. Not only is this uncompetitive, it is another example of the pharmaceutical industry's vicious disrespect for American seniors."

The letter cites the needs of struggling senior citizens who are often "forced to choose between food, heat and medicine."

Meanwhile, Sanders' office issued a prepared statement saying, "To safeguard the health of Americans, I am introducing a bill to stop GlaxoSmithKline and others from discriminating against American consumers."

No one at Sanders' office returned phone calls to elaborate on what the bill would entail. However, a spokeswoman from Crowley's office said the legislation is expected in about two weeks. Legislation allowing reimportation from Canada passed in the Senate last year, but died in the House.

Sanders' statement raises concerns that other drug companies would follow GSK's lead and reduce sales to certain companies. "We cannot allow these international strong-arm tactics that discriminate against Americans to continue," Sanders' statement says. "Too many Americans' health is being held hostage by the greed of the pharmaceutical industry."

But GSK doesn't quite see it that way.

In fact, Nancy Pekarek, a spokeswoman for the company, told BioWorld Today that cross-border sales are illegal and potentially unsafe. "This is not the way to deal with affordability and access to medicines in the U.S.," she said. "What we would urge seniors and others to do is to call their congressmen and urge them to pass a prescription drug benefit. That's what this is about - and we understand the concerns of seniors."

Purchasing prescription drugs off the Internet and essentially reimporting them back into the U.S. is a practice fraught with problems, she said.

In the first place, the practice is not regulated by the FDA. "If there's no FDA oversight, we don't know how the products are stored or transported, so no one can vouch for the safety of the medicines," Pekarek said. "There's also the potential risk of products being counterfeit or sub-potent.

"Now, if you are looking at drugs that are for very serious or life-threatening conditions, what level of risk do you want to assume?" she said. "Another issue of patient safety when you are dealing with Internet-type sales, you break the traditional bond between health care provider, pharmacy and patients."

GSK says it continues to sell enough product to Canadian wholesalers and other companies to provide for the needs of Canadians.