US says it won't allow Canadian drug imports anytime soon

President Joe Biden's administration said May 28 it has not established a timeline for when the U.S. will allow states to import drugs from Canada, Kaiser Health News reported.

In September, then-President Donald Trump's administration approved a measure to allow importation of prescription drugs from Canada, a move the White House said would help Americans save on their medications.

The federal government has permitted the importation of prescription drugs since 2000, stipulating that HHS must certify the importation is safe. Such an event had never occurred until Sept. 23, when the department's then-secretary, Alex Azar, wrote a letter to lawmakers granting states permission to import drugs from Canada.

The final rule released by HHS in September permits states to purchase drugs from Canada, which are often much cheaper than drugs manufactured in the U.S. since the country's laws put a cap on how much drugmakers can charge. States that have already sought federal permission to import drugs from Canada include Florida, Colorado, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire and New Mexico.

"Although two proposals have been submitted to FDA, no timeline exists for the agency to make a decision. Thus, the possible future injuries to plaintiffs’ members are overly speculative and not imminent," the Biden administration wrote in a May 28 court filing seeking to dismiss a lawsuit from the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, a pharmaceutical trade group.

The American pharmaceutical industry has historically opposed importing drugs from other countries, as drugmakers often argue such practices would disrupt the country's supply chain and bring in counterfeit drugs.

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