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>Internet pharmacy industry co-founder fights to clear >name in Manitoba court > >MICHELLE MACAFEE >Canadian Press > > >Monday, May 03, 2004 >ADVERTISEMENT > > > >WINNIPEG (CP) - One of the Manitoba founders of the >billion-dollar Internet pharmacy industry is fighting >in court to clear his name after landing in hot water >with the province's pharmaceutical regulatory body. > >Andrew Strempler, whose online pharmacy RxNorth is >based in Minnedosa, Man., has filed an application in >Court of Queen's Bench to quash a decision by the >Manitoba Pharmaceutical Association that the >pharmacist was, according to the application,"guilty >of unskilled practice of pharmacy and professional >misconduct." > >The association's council recently upheld a discipline >committee's earlier finding that Strempler violated >the Pharmaceutical Act by filling more than 10,000 >prescriptions for American patients that were written >by doctors who were not licensed to practice in >Canada. > >The association found the prescriptions were filled >between April 4 and Dec. 1, 2001. > >Strempler has asked the court to stay the >association's decision pending the outcome of the >current appeal and then to overturn the ruling under >provisions of the act. > >The association has not yet submitted a response to >Strempler's application, which was filed in March. > >Among Strempler's claims in the court documents is >that the association "erred in law by misinterpreting >the Pharmaceutical Act, the applicable common law >principles and misconstrued the evidence." > >One of the most contentious aspects of the >cross-border industry is Canadian doctors writing >prescriptions and Canadian pharmacists filling them >for American patients who have not been examined by a >Canadian doctor. > >Earlier this year, a Manitoba doctor was reprimanded >and fined $10,000 by the College of Physicians and >Surgeons of Manitoba for writing more than 9,000 >prescriptions for two Internet pharmacies. > >Three doctors in Ontario were charged by the College >of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario but have not yet >had hearings. > >Strempler's court application accuses the association >of bias against him and the entire Internet pharmacy >industry. > >He also states the sentence imposed by the discipline >committee was excessive. > >The documents do not specify Strempler's penalty. The >maximum fine for a pharmacist is $10,000 and the >association can suspend a pharmacist's licence, said >association registrar Ron Guse. > >Strempler could not be reached for comment Monday. His >lawyer, Thomas Frohlinger, declined to comment on >details of the case. > >Doug Abra, the lawyer representing the association, >could also not be reached. > >Strempler was recently featured in Fortune magazine as >one of the founding fathers of an industry that now >sells drugs that are up to 80 per cent cheaper to >about a million underinsured and uninsured Americans. > >It began four years ago when, as a 25-year-old >pharmacy graduate, Strempler decided to capitalize on >the fact Nicorette gum was much cheaper in Canada than >the United States and he began selling it on eBay. > >The industry has since ballooned to the point where >affordable drug prices are set to become a hot-button >issue in this fall's presidential race. > >Opponents argue the Internet drugs are unsafe and the >industry is creating shortages for Canadians. > >The pharmacies have been hit hard in recent months by >a decision by drug manufacturers to blacklist Internet >pharmacies at the wholesale level in an attempt to >prevent the companies from underselling their products >to the American market.

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