FDA issues warning about prescription drug provider

The Food and Drug Administration yesterday issued a warning letter to CanaRx, a company that contracts with employers to provide select prescription drugs to employees, for facilitating the distribution of unapproved and misbranded drugs. “In this scheme, CanaRx facilitates foreign physicians rewriting the employee’s U.S. prescription, and then supplies the employee with unapproved versions of FDA-approved drugs purportedly sourced from Canada, the United Kingdom or Australia that are represented to have undergone review from those countries’ drug regulatory systems,” FDA said. “This is particularly troublesome, as employees are likely inclined to trust that they will receive safe and effective drugs through their employer’s ‘insurance’ plan and may not question their legitimacy.” The letter lists more than 150 websites affiliated with the company. FDA said health care providers and consumers should report any adverse events related to drugs provided by CanaRx to its MedWatch program.