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>Store selling Canadian drugs investigated >State looks at business in Louisville > > >The Kentucky attorney general's office has begun >investigating a Louisville business that sells >low-priced prescription drugs from Canada. > >Meanwhile, two similar businesses in Southern Indiana >remain open, despite a move by Indiana pharmacy >officials several months ago to have them investigated >for possible law violations. > >The Kentucky attorney general's probe was prompted by >a Dec. 12 letter from the state Board of Pharmacy. > >It asked for an investigation of U.S. Canadian Drug >Connection, 3834 Taylorsville Road in the Hikes Point >area, for what the letter called "illegal importation" >of Canadian drugs. > >Vicki Glass, director of communications for Kentucky >Attorney General Greg Stumbo, said the office's >special investigations unit is conducting the inquiry. >She said she couldn't give details of a pending >investigation. > >Update >Last we knew: >A storefront selling low-priced prescription drugs >from Canada had opened in Louisville. Meanwhile, >Indiana had mounted an investigation of whether two >similar businesses in Southern Indiana were breaking >the law. >The latest: >The Kentucky attorney general's office has begun an >investigation of the Louisville business, U.S. >Canadian Drug Connection, at the urging of the state >pharmacy board. The two Southern Indiana storefronts >are still operating. > >Why it's news: >The high price of prescription drugs is a big concern >among many consumers, particularly the elderly. > >For more info: >www.fda.gov >www.dmocakentuckiana.com > > >U.S. Canadian Drug Connection is the only >Canadian-drug outlet in Kentucky that has come to the >attention of the pharmacy board, said interim director >Jeff Osman. > >It moved to its current address after opening last >August on Bardstown Road in the Highlands. > >Larry Brodt, co-owner of the business, said this week >he wasn't aware of the attorney general's probe. > >He said a pharmacy board investigator visited the >business last fall, after which he received a letter >warning the business not to use the word "drug" in its >printed advertisements. > >Brodt said he removed the word from the ads. > >The business "hasn't really taken off," Brodt said. It >cut back to four hours a day, and then to three days a >week during the holidays and January. > >Brodt said people may be staying away because of >confusion over whether buying drugs from Canada is >legal and pharmaceutical companies' insistence that >imported drugs aren't safe. > >While the importation of drugs from Canada has strong >support in Congress, federal officials say it remains >illegal. > >Still, mail-order storefronts have popped up around >the nation — including at least six in Indiana — in >response to rising U.S. drug prices. > >Attracted by Canadian prices that are about one-half >those in the United States because of price controls, >an estimated 1 million or more Americans bought about >$1 billion in drugs from Canada last year. > >Most of those sales were online, but storefronts have >popped up because many seniors aren't comfortable with >Internet purchasing. Seniors are a primary market >because Medicare doesn't cover prescription drugs. > >While Internet sales are almost impossible to block, >the storefronts have presented a ready target to state >and federal regulators. > >The request for the Kentucky attorney general's office >to investigate came from Michael Moné, who at the time >was the pharmacy board's executive director. He has >since left the position. > >Moné had said he would seek a court order to shut down >any Canadian-drug storefront that opened in Kentucky. >He made that statement last May, a few months before >U.S. Canadian Drug Connection opened. > >The Louisville outlet and others say they've been >careful to set up their businesses legally. > >They don't handle or label drugs or have a pharmacist >on site, to avoid state charges of running an >unlicensed pharmacy. They forward customers' >prescriptions to pharmacies in Canada, which mail >drugs to homes. > >However, Moné said last year he believed that under >Kentucky law, only licensed pharmacies can accept >prescriptions. > >The Food and Drug Administration, which maintains that >buying drugs from outside the United States is unsafe >as well as illegal, won a federal court order in >November shutting down one chain of Canadian-drug >outlets. > >A judge granted the FDA's request to shut down >Tulsa-based Rx Depot's 85 stores, including one in >Indianapolis. The company said it would appeal. > >The decision was expected to have a domino effect that >would result in other outlets closing. > >However, it has actually had the opposite effect in >Indiana. > >The state's pharmacy board asked the Indiana attorney >general last fall to seek injunctions against two >outlets, including Rx Depot, and to investigate >others. > >But after the federal judge's Nov. 6 order closing Rx >Depot, Indiana Attorney General Steve Carter's office >said it preferred to watch for more possible federal >enforcement actions. > >"Prior to entering into potential and costly >litigation in Indiana, the attorney general's office >believes it wise to proceed in this manner," the Nov. >10 statement said. > >Meanwhile, a new storefront, Discount Medicine of >Canada, opened several weeks ago in Columbus, Ind. > >That's the same name as an outlet in New Albany that >opened last spring. The two are affiliated with a >Florida company. > >Steve Yount, owner of the New Albany store, said >business is picking up. He said that in addition to >selling to individuals, he is talking to some local >self-insured businesses about ordering drugs from >Canada for their employees, but hasn't closed any >deals. > >Jon Hallis, part-owner of a storefront in Clarksville >called Discount Drugs from Canada, said it now has >more than 500 customers. That's up from about 400 in >September.

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