... As State AGs Advance Their Own Rx Importation Proposal

State government officials?many of whom are actively encouraging their constituents to buy cheaper prescription drugs from Canada?are now pushing a new plan designed to overcome the remaining federal objections to legalizing Rx importation. In a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson, the attorneys general from 18 states called on the Administration to "act immediately to help provide our citizens with affordable prescription drugs while ensuring drug safety."

Under their plan, the FDA would allow states to be appointed as licensed drug wholesalers authorized to physically import pharmaceuticals from Canada. Only drugs manufactured in FDA-approved facilities could be imported, and special tracking technologies would be used to prevent counterfeit drugs from reaching the United States.