Stickin' It To the Man

CHICAGO (Reuters) - U.S. regulators and Wisconsin are sparring over the state's aggressive efforts to encourage its citizens to buy cheaper pharmaceuticals across the border in Canada, a battle which escalated this week.

Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle, a Democrat, blasted a letter he received late Thursday from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (news - web sites), warning the state that its Web site threatens the public health by advocating citizens to buy illegal drugs.

"All we've done is try to find a vehicle for Wisconsin citizens to get cheaper prescription drugs, and the FDA is turning a deaf ear to the needs of citizens," Marc Marotta, a top aide to Doyle, told Reuters.

Doyle believes 40,000 citizens in Wisconsin have ordered pharmaceuticals through the state's site, which links to three Canadian pharmacies inspected by state advisors.

A growing number of people are buying drugs from Canada, where they can cost up to 70 percent less than in the United States, mostly owing to greater government regulation there.

Federal regulators say the practice is illegal and risky, but cash-strapped states and cities like Wisconsin are increasingly helping individual efforts.

"The drugs that your citizens will purchase from the Canadian pharmacies to which you refer them will clearly be illegal under federal law," the FDA wrote in the letter to Doyle, dated March 18.

The FDA operates under the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (news - web sites), run by former Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson.

At least 25 states and 15 localities are looking into buying drugs from Canada as they wrestle with double-digit health inflation.

"It is disappointing that the FDA continues to try to scare people," Doyle said in a statement.

"If the federal government continues to do nothing to help our citizens with the high price of prescription drugs, Wisconsin will continue to act on its own," he said.

Washington, D.C.'s official Web site now links to the Wisconsin site, and Minnesota also set up a similar site recently.

The pharmaceutical industry opposes importation from Canada, and the United States remains the sector's most lucrative market.