FDA scrambles to stop Canadian drug imports

WASHINGTON – Federal regulators are hoping to persuade Boston and New Hampshire officials to abandon plans to buy cheaper prescription drugs from Canada.

Food and Drug Administration Associate Commissioner William Hubbard will meet Thursday morning with Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino.

“It’s about time we forced the issue,” said Menino, who announced last week that the city will begin buying drugs from Canada even though the program is not legal.

New Hampshire Gov. Craig Benson, who made a similar announcement last week, turned down an invitation to meet with FDA officials in Washington.

“At this point the governor intends to move forward with our plan,” Benson spokesman Wendell Packard said Tuesday. He said Benson would meet with FDA officials if they went to New Hampshire.

Meanwhile, the FDA wants the help of credit-card and package delivery companies to slow the importation of prescription drugs.

Agency officials said they want to meet with the companies to explore whether they would voluntarily limit business with foreign pharmacies that ship prescription drugs to the United States.

The initiative has raised concerns that the U.S. government is seeking access to consumers’ private medical records as part of its intensifying effort to crack down on prescription drug imports.

“They can say they’re only going after establishments, but the only way they can do that is by examining purchases by individuals,” said Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill.

Emanuel sent letters Tuesday to Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson, MasterCard International Inc. and Visa USA Inc., saying that if the companies turn over information to the FDA, “I believe they would be violating both the letter and spirit of the new law” which bars credit card and other companies from sharing their customers’ medical information. President Bush signed it this month.