Low cost prescriptions

February 22, 2003

Nation & World: Thursday, February 13, 2003

Seniors boycott drug giant for Canada policy

By Saillant

Los Angeles Times

With a battle cry of " Tums down! " senior-citizens groups have started a

boycott of drug giant GlaxoKline, after the company cut supplies to

Canadian pharmacies that sell its drugs to Americans on the Internet at

bargain prices.

The seniors are taking aim at the British maker of Tums antacid, Aquafresh

toothpaste, Contac cold remedy and dozens of common prescription medicines,

calling Glaxo's decision " mean-spirited " and harmful to older people.

Last week, hundreds of groups began an e-mail and phone campaign urging U.S.

consumers to stop buying Glaxo's over-the-counter products. Organizers plan

to publicize the boycott with a Feb. 20 rally outside Glaxo's U.S. operations

in Philadelphia, said Pedro , who heads that city's Action Alliance

of Senior Citizens....

On Jan. 21, Glaxo stopped shipping its prescription drugs, including such

popular medicines as the antidepressant Paxil and allergy drug Flonase, to

Canadian pharmacies. Shipments will not resume, the company said, until the

pharmacies stop filling U.S. prescriptions.

Activists said Glaxo's move was prompted by profits. Like other drug

companies, it has been losing U.S. customers to Canadian pharmacies that

offer cut-rate deals over the Internet, senior advocates said.

A favorable currency-exchange rate and Canadian government price controls

mean prescriptions can cost up to 80 percent less in Canada than in the

United States, and many Americans are taking advantage of the savings.

If consumers do not challenge Glaxo, the world's second-largest drug maker

with $29.5 billion in annual sales, other drug companies might follow its

lead, the activists said. That would close an avenue to lower-priced

medicines that is used increasingly by the uninsured and senior citizens of

moderate means, they said.

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You can help by not buying their products.

Kathleen

Seattle WA USA

If you want others to be happy, practice compassion.

If you want to be happy, practice compassion. - The Dalai Lama

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