Federal health minister says he won't allow Florida to 'pillage' the drug supply

Health Minister Mark Holland says Florida's plan to import cheaper Canadian pharmaceuticals is a non-starter and the federal government will use its regulatory power to ensure the national drug supply does not face any shortages due to actions by a foreign state.

«There is no way we will allow any jurisdiction, be it a state or another foreign jurisdiction, to endanger the Canadian drug supply. That is not an appropriate solution to whatever challenges they may be facing,» Holland said during an official announcement in Nova Scotia of a bilateral health-care deal with the province.

«We're going to do everything in our power to make sure that another country cannot be given the ability to pillage our health system for its own benefit.»

Holland said he will soon travel to Washington, D.C. to make it known to officials there that Canada will not stand idle if Florida or other U.S. states pursue bulk imports that threaten Canadians' access to medication in any way.

He said it's «inappropriate» for U.S. politicians to look to Canada to help fix their costly health-care system, where sky-high drug prices are the norm.

Holland's comments come after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) last week approved a Florida program to import certain prescription drugs from Canada at a lower cost.

Because of limits on prescription drug price negotiations in the U.S., politicians south of the border have argued their health-care systems should simply buy more drugs from Canada.

A 2021 report by the Rand Corporation found that Canadian prices were just 46 per cent of those in the United States because Ottawa limits how much drugmakers can charge for medicines. The U.S. lets the free market dictate drug prices.

Florida's Republican Gov. Ron