TORONTO September 25, 2020 – In response to yesterday’s announcement by the Trump Administration and final regulations to allow importation of prescription medicines, ASOP Canada issued the following statement:

“Canadians are sympathetic to the struggles that our American neighbours face in accessing affordable medicine, but importing prescription drugs from Canada is not a safe solution.

Our drug supply is meant for Canadians, not a country with a population 10 times our size. Canada already faces shortages for a range of life-saving medicines.

The global COVID-19 pandemic outbreak has exacerbated Canada’s drug supply challenges. Without the cooperation of Canada’s governments, pharmaceutical distributors, pharmacists and manufacturers, Canadians would have suffered severe shortages during the first wave of COVID-19. As our country enters a potential second wave of COVID-19, the U.S. Safe Importation Action Plan is being implemented at the worst possible time for Canadians.

ASOP Canada fears that importation of Health Canada-approved medication by the U.S. will potentially drive Canadian and American patients to look for medicine through unconventional sources, like unlicensed, illegal internet pharmacies that often distribute counterfeit, substandard or unapproved drugs.

We urge the Trump Administration to find a safer solution to its drug pricing problem.

Over the past year, together with 14 other organizations, ASOP Canada has consistently voiced our concerns about U.S. drug importation proposals to Canada’s Health Minister[i] and Canada’s Prime Minister[ii]. We will continue to urge Canada’s government to take swift and urgent action to protect Canada’s drug supply in response to the U.S. Safe Importation Action Plan.”

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ABOUT ASOP CANADA

ASOP Canada Chapter is a program of the Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies which is a U.S. nonprofit tax-exempt social welfare organization organized to promote global policies and programs for improved patient safety involving online distribution of pharmaceutical products. ASOP Canada Chapter is not a separate legal entity.

[i] https://buysaferx.pharmacy//wp-content/uploads/2019/07/Health-Canada-Stakeholder- Letter_Importation.Minister.FINAL072519.pdf

[ii] https://buysaferx.pharmacy//wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Multi-Stakeholder-Letter-to-PM- Trudeau.Final_.110619.pdf