The federal Food and Drug Administration is threatening regulatory action against the drug importation company CanaRx for brokering the distribution of unapproved or misbranded drugs from other countries in the United States.
The company hasn’t been permitted to distribute in Maine since a 2015 lawsuit by several groups, including the Maine Pharmacy Association. But that group’s board chair, Amelia Arnold, says CanaRx has continued to do so, and that’s not safe for patients.
“Because these drugs aren’t from FDA-approved pharmacies, we don’t know what patients are getting. So they could have contaminants in them, they could be outdated, they could be subject to a recall and you would never know that,” she says. “There have been cases across the U.S. of contaminants and subpar medications making their way in, so I would rather shop around and look for a medication that has a generic alternative that’s affordable.”
In a letter last week, the FDA said that CanaRx offered drugs that may have been subject to recall, were incorrectly dosed or were the wrong versions of the drugs. The company works directly with employers in several U.S. states to provide some prescription drugs to employees at a lower cost than they might get from U.S. pharmacies.
CanaRx didn’t return a call for comment by airtime.
