I came across this article but I'm not sure if it should be in the US section (85 drugstores in 26 states) or if it belongs in the Canada section (drugs sold in US that were imported from Canada).

Drugs from Canada hit an obstacle Judge tells Rx Depot to close its doors

By Julie Appleby

USA TODAY

A federal judge ordered the immediate closure Thursday of a chain of stores that help U.S. residents purchase lower-cost prescription drugs from Canada, saying the chain violates the law and cannot ensure the safety of the products customers purchase.

In a ruling expected to bolster government efforts to shut down similar firms, U.S. District Judge Claire Eagan in Tulsa issued a preliminary injunction against stores doing business as Rx Depot, whose owners say they operate 85 stores in 26 states.

The ruling might also give pause to some cash-strapped local and state governments, which are considering purchasing drugs from Canada to save money on employee medical costs or state Medicaid programs.

''Programs that states set up are likely to be illegal for the same reasons that the court found Rx Depot to be illegal,'' says Mark McClellan, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration.

The FDA argued that Rx Depot violated the law. In a sting operation against Rx Depot, undercover government agents purchased a generic antidepressant not approved for sale in the USA and a foot fungus drug that, while approved for sale in the USA, was made outside the country.

''This company was profiting by violating the law,'' McClellan says.

Rx Depot President Carl Moore vowed to appeal the ruling.

His lawyers argued that the FDA has selectively enforced the law, taking action against his stores, but allowing residents to walk across the border to buy prescriptions or purchase them on their own via the Internet.

''Why am I different?'' Moore said before the ruling was made public. ''All we're hoping for is a day in court with a full jury trial.''

Eagan wrote, ''It is reasonable for the FDA to marshal its limited resources against large-scale commercial operations like Rx Depot rather than small-scale individual violators.'' She gave Rx Depot 10 days to notify its customers that it is violating the law.

The ruling is likely to fuel arguments in Congress about whether to expand the ability of U.S. residents to buy from foreign countries, a move that is opposed by the drug industry.

''This ruling makes it pretty clear that unless Congress changes the law, Rx Depot and those like it are at grave risk,'' says Donald deKieffer, a Washington lawyer who represents food, drug and apparel companies.

''It's going to be an interesting bomb in the debate over re-importation.''

Earlier Thursday, the FDA warned another business, one that assists the employees of Springfield, Mass., in purchasing lower-cost drugs from Canada, that it, too, is violating the law.

The next step for the FDA could be to bring legal action against CanaRX, which assists Springfield.

Springfield Mayor Michael Albano says he is disappointed both with the letter and with the Rx Depot ruling. But, he says, ''The answer lies not in the courts, but in Congress.''