Governor Vilsacks call for use of Canadian prescriptions positive response to meeting needs of seniors, rural area and strapped states

Rural Americans most lacking in Medical, prescription coverage. Iowa Governor Vilsack's plan is a positive response to meeting needs of rural seniors and cash-strapped states.

The move by Iowa Governor Tom Vilack to study the savings of making low-cost, high-quality prescription drugs available to Iowans is a positive response to a series of needs.

Thats the opinion of Jeremy Cockerill, pharmacy manager for Universal Drug Store, a licensed pharmacy based in Winnipeg with a leading Internet-based site at www.UnversalDrugStore.com .

Cockerill points to a recent study by the Center for American Progress, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank headed by John Podesta, former Chief of Staff for President Clinton.

In that study, released only earlier this month, it was pointed out that rural seniors are twice as likely to lack any type of prescription drug coverage as those in urban areas, Cockerill notes.

The financial challenges facing state governments makes the ordering of prescriptions from Canada a valid alternative, offering needed savings made possible, with no loss in quality or safety of prescriptions," Cockerill continues.

Reputable Canadian pharmacies have empowered American seniors especially by utilizing the Internet to offer low-cost, high-quality prescriptions," says Cockerill.

Cockerill explains that prescriptions prepared by reputable Canadian pharmacies on the Internet are approved by Canadian regulators and must meet the highest standards of quality and safety.

It is this commitment to quality, safety and low-cost that has caused the American pubic to turn to pharmacies such as ours and our site at www.UniversalDrugStore.com in growing numbers," Cockerill continues.

He says that it is only a natural course of events that the realities of the marketplace will lead to moves such as those proposed by Governor Vilsack. Already, at least one municipality in Massachussetts, and earlier this month, Illinois and Minnesota announced they are going to conduct studies such as that proposed by Governor Vilack

Cockerill is aware that Governor Vilsack will be the target of some criticism and charges, much of it unfounded. The Food and Drug Administration says that the sale of prescriptions via the Internet might be illegal, but according to one national news report, it allows its own employees to purchase such prescriptions.

Also, in July, the U.S. House of Representatives voted overwhelmingly to approve an amendment to the FDA appropriations bill urging the FDA not to attempt to block the sale of prescriptions over the Internet.

The House has also approved a bill allowing the reimportation of prescriptions from Canada, and a number of seniors groups has arranged bus trips for their members into Canada to purchase prescriptions.

All of these factors illustrate that there is a growing groundswell of support for the freedom of choice that Canadian pharmacies such as Universal Drug Store can offer the American public," Cockerill explains. Now, Governor Vilack has illustrated that the same considerations that have caused Americans to use Canadian pharmacies as individuals have had their decision validated by evolving public policy."

Four pharmaceutical companies have threatened to stop sales of their medicines in Canada unless sales by Canadian pharmacies to American consumers are ended. The result has been an ongoing public protest with implications for the 2004 elections. Another impact has been to increase interest in the use of generics from Canadian pharmacies, increasing the savings even more.

Cockerill has one word of counsel for the Iowa Governor: know your supplier.

"This is crucial," he says. That is why Universal Drug Store has begun an expanded education and information effort to provide the highest comfort level for our clients by letting them know of our commitment to quality and safety."

Universal Drugstore Ltd. is a fully licensed Canadian Pharmacy, with Manitoba Pharmaceutical Association license