U.S. Cities Skeptical Of FDA Warnings Against Medicine Imports From Canadian Firm

Cities and local governments in several states say they will continue to use a Canadian company to offer employees prescription drugs at a highly reduced price, even though officials from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration have raised safety concerns about the practice.

The municipalities use CanaRx, which connects their employees with brick-and-mortar pharmacies in Canada, Great Britain and Australia to fill prescriptions.

In a letter sent last week to CanaRx, the FDA said the company has sent "unapproved" and "misbranded" drugs to U.S. consumers, jeopardizing patient safety.

The FDA also urged consumers not to use any medicines from CanaRx, which works with about 500 cities, counties, school districts and private employers in the United States to arrange drug purchases. Some of these employers started using the service as far back as 2004.