I have been advised by my Canadian prescription drug providers that GSK is refusing to provide its products to them as long as they fill prescriptions for U.S. customers.I do not need to explain to you why American Seniors take the trouble to purchase in Canada something that is available at their local drugstore by only paying 4 or 5 hundred percent more. I am 75 years old. My husband is 77. We live on a small income, and so do most of our friends, and fellow churchgoers. We consider your actions immoral and the basest form of blackmail directed in a circular way to a most vulnerable sector of our society: the elders and the infirm. I am now starting an active campaign to ensure that everybody we know and in turn everybody THEY know, including our personal physicians boycot ALL your products, prescriptions and OTC. Also we will encourage our friends and acquaintances to sell or not to buy your stock as a matter of conscience. We are stock owners in a very small scale as most of our friends are, but in our church we regularly discuss objectionable actions by companies such as GSK's, to eliminate them and their products from our portfolios and our homes. We will also write to our Representatives in Washington, since it was Congress who made legal the "reimportation" of prescription drugs for seniors, from Canada. They will then get a taste of your contempt for their laws. And if by padding a few strategically placed pockets you eventually get your way, well, there is always Mexico. On the other hand, you could do the decent thing and retract your unfortunate actions and perhaps reduce your CEOs and Directors' pay by a few millions plus you could eliminate some of the sophomore level advertising that you ply the public with.
A.G.C.
Ormond Beach, FL

Dear Honorable Senators of Arizona, We are a State that many seniors are attracted to because of favorable weather for our old bodies. Not by any means are these seniors all rich or even well off financially. Many are struggling to keep themselves healthy so that they can have some enjoyment in the so-called "Golden Years". Prescription drugs can be a major expense for these souls. We are indoctrinated that "Free Trade" is best for America. Then getting these prescription drugs that have such high prices in the US, in Canada and Mexico certainly falls in line with free trade principles. Please don't let any legislation change this. If Park Davis can sell it to Canada and they can sell it here into Americans at a lesser price, and make money then why should that not be allowed? Don't coddle these big companies just because they support your reelection. That loses our respect in you very fast. Thank You, D.C.B.
D.C.B.
Prescott, AZ

I am writing to ask you to please take a stand for us. GlaxoSmithKlein is the second largest drug manufacturer in the world; they want the people here in America to stop buying our prescriptions and other medications from Canada. I ask that you not let them take away our freedom to choose. Many Americans buy their drugs from Canada because the price is lower than what we can buy them for here. On January 21, 2003, GlaxoSmithKlein (GSK) has refused to supply its products to any Canadian pharmacy that fills prescriptions for customers in the United States. They want to make money at our expense. It would seem to me that they are trying to put a squeeze on the people who least can afford it. As we ourselves have no drug prescription plan, we will be forced to pay the highest prices to get the medicine we need. To me that is very unfair. This is nothing more than a game for them, to keep getting richer and richer. And who do you think will suffer from it? The people who are getting their medicine from Canada. That’s who will suffer. We go to Canada to get our medicine either by bus or we order it online. If the cost here in the United States was the same as Canada, then we wouldn’t need to go elsewhere to buy our medicine. But here we go, the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, which as an end result means so many of us in the United States will do without medicine and other things simply because we can not afford the prices. Can you blame us for going elsewhere to buy these products? If you were in our boat, would you do the same thing? Sure you would. Anyone would go where they could afford it. It is our right to choose where we buy our products. What happened to our rights? Why are we letting companies decide where we can buy from? If things like this continue to happen then one day we will most likely be told where and when and how to buy our items. America is supposed to be the land of the free…. Now they are taking that away from us. And God only knows what they will do next… I am asking you as a person; please help us put a stop to this. Thank you for your time.
R.O.
Howard, OH

I am writing to plead with you to do what you can to stop that pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKline to try and put a stop to we Americans who are forced to buy our medications from Canada. I for one had to search around and found that I could purchase my same medications from Canada at half the price of here in the US. I am on Social Security Disability and have medical expenses of $800 per month. Those of us on medicare just cannot afford to buy the medications at US prices when we can get them elsewhere cheaper. GlaxoSmithKline is making a profit even when selling to Canada. Why do they have the right to take away our choice? My husband and I worked many years to get to the place of retirement. Now we are faced with such medical expenses of health care and medications that it is just a burden. I have been forced to look elsewhere just because of having to live within our budget. Please do what you are able to do to stop this company from taking away our rights when they are making a profit just the same. Thank you L.W.
L.W.
Monmouth, OR

I sent my Senators and Congressman emails as follows: GlaxoSmithKline, the second largest drug manufacturer in the world, is trying to stop Americans from buying medicines from Canada because they want us to keep paying outrageous amounts for their drugs. 42 million Americans are without health insurance. Buying drugs from Canada is the only way they can get drugs at a reasonable cost. It is un-American for companies like GSK to say "Capitalism is King" and then set up monopolistic and predatory pricing on their products here in the USA. This is an outrage and must be stopped!
C.A.
Fremont, CA

Dear Mr. Garner: I understand your company will begin to refuse to sell to Canadian Pharmacies that resell to the U. S. market. I can understand your concern. Unless you are willing to implement this policy worldwide, I really don't think you can prevent us from searching to get a substantially better price for required drugs. Many countries have similar regulations for drug prices and we would simply go there. I would make the suggestion to the Canadian officials that they consider removing your company from their entire Canadian market in the event you enforce your plan. While I believe in profits, many of us do not have any other choice but to purchase drugs at the best price we can. It's not like we have a choice to buy or not. May I remind you some years ago when the U. S. Physicians controlled their market and could charge any thing they wanted, HMO and other plans were enacted which took much of their control from them. Now the medical profession has changed and many say for the worse. It is also evident that the National Education Association is now experiencing the same loss of control for a group of reasons having to do with too much influence and little desire to improve. Many of us believe the legal profession is just about to enter the into the dilution of control situation and the public may see this happen in the near future. Think about your position in light of these two examples of powerful controlling intuitions and know it could happen to the drug industry. Sincerely, G.D.B.
G.D.B.
?, ?

Dear President Bush, I call your attention to the two (2) referenced news articles dealing with US drug manufacturer GlaxoSmithKline's threatened cessation of sales to Canadian pharmacies who knowingly supply U S customers. As a retired U S citizen trying to deal with the lack of any prescription drug coverage, I respectfully request that you take whatever measures possible to prevent GlaxoSmithKline, and other manufacturers from making good on these threats. Our 2002 federal tax return will claim $6,255 in unreimbursed prescription drug costs for 2002. Of that amount, $2,944 or 47% of that cost went to Canadian pharmacies. The reason the percentage was not higher, is that not all of our prescription drugs are available from Canadian sources; however, had we been unable to procure what we did from Canadian pharmacies, our cost would have been at least $1,000 higher in 2002. While we are faulting no one for our lack of prescription coverage, we do fault the drug companies, as well as the U S government, for allowing these companies to continually gouge the U S public, and maintain their stranglehold on patent protection, long after it should have expired. It should also be noted that part of our success in reducing prescription drug costs lies in the ability to secure generic equivalents in Canada, which are unavailable to us in the United States. I don't want to paint a picture of destitution; however our cost of prescription drugs, if maintained at their 2002 level, will represent over 50% of our anticipated 2003 AGI. While we are fortunate enough to live in a modest home, on a public golf course in Florida, prescription drug cost keeps me from playing on that course, and is the principal reason I am once again seeking employment, at age 67. Again, I am not seeking anyone's sympathy; however I am soliciting your action in allowing us to manage our health care cost by continuing to secure prescription drugs from Canadian sources, at significant savings. I suspect that the continued availability of prescription drugs from Canada, will do more than any legislation introduced in 2003, to benefit our prescription drug costs. Incidentally, in all the years we have been buying prescription drugs in Canada, we have never had any prescriptions "harmed in the shipping process", as alleged in the reference 2 news article. Should you find out who fostered that theory, I would like to talk to them about a bridge I have for sale in Brooklyn. Sincerely, J.R.B.
J.R.B.
Palm Coast, FL

Dear Mr. Garnier: Shame on your decision to withhold products from the Canadian Pharmacies who have saved our lives, health and welfare by allowing us to afford some of the medicines we so desperately need. With our limited finances, we can barely afford the normal necessities of life, necessities such as food, utilities and transportation. It’s certainly easy for you to make such decisions as preventing our access to reasonably priced medicines when a limited income is not an issue you and your family face. As you enjoy your profit sharing bonuses, generous salary and other valuable incentives given you by GlaxoSmithKline, please take a moment to think about the millions of us out here desperately trying to live on meager incomes and struggling week to week to financially survive. Apparently, you and your board members have little regard for those of us who use your products beyond how much profit it makes your company, profits that permit the momentous differences between your lifestyle and ours. I and my family will make every effort to avoid products produced by your company in protest. Also, I will make your decision in this matter available to everyone who is affected by it.
J.B.A.
Huntsville, AL

Jean-Pierre Garnier CEO, Your behavior in boycotting Canadian pharmacies that sell drugs to US citizens is reprehensible and is an egregious example of corporate greed. Have you no pity for seniors in the US who have no prescription drug coverage and cannot afford to pay US pharmacy drug prices to maintain their health. You as a drug manufacturer are reaping huge profits while overcharging vulnerable ill people and now you want to extend your rapacious greediness to a country that values human beings rather than the almighty dollar. Stop your boycott; stop your tactics of intimidation. It will blow up in your face. You are garnering ill will by this boycott and your public image will suffer and so will your highly valued profit margin. Sincerely, G.B.M.
G.B.M.
Cherry Hill, NJ

To: Senator Richard G. Lugar Recently the GlaxSmithKline pharmaceutical manufacturer has informed The Canadian Drugstore to quit selling medications to U.S. senior citizens.(at a price less than would be consistent with U.S. prices) This is corporate bullying, SO typical of the revelations concerning corporate fraud and corruption we've been made aware of these past two years. In the February issue of the AARP Bulletin an article "Pulling strings from Afar" relates to senior groups who are supposedly neutral in accordance with their non-profit status but, in actuality, are financed by certain members of the pharmaceutical industry of the U.S. As a 76 year old veteran of WWII , I will always be faithful to this country in spite of the many downright dishonest attempts of many administration leaders giving corporates and the filthy rich even more power than they've always had; "The rich get richer and the poor get poorer". My voting has always been based on party platforms but this recent trend may, unfortunately, cause a shift away from any political group which will allow this devious behavior of corporations to continue, perhaps even enhanced. Please do the right thing!
C.M.C.
DeMotte, IN

For your consideration: As a customer of the Canadian Drug Store we agree that you are a great low cost alternative to buying drugs in the USA. From the point of view from the US FDA it is, in fact, illegal to bring prescription drugs in to the USA from Canada and the law has been on the books for a long time. The FDA has simply ignored enforcing the law. The real criminal here is Smith Kline Glaxo because they are price gouging US citizens while allowing Canadians to purchase the same drugs at a much reduced rate - why? BIGGER MARKET =s HIGHER PRICES =s HIGHER PROFITS. Since they are price gouging, if the FDA sees fit to enforce the law that restricts importation of drugs from Canada, then why shouldn't the Justice Department also look at Smith Kline Glaxo as violators of the Taft Hartley act and indict them for price gouging and reaping excessive profits from US Citizens. The real victims of this "crime" are the senior citizens on fixed incomes as well as folks with no health insurance (my wife's mother in this case) trying to make ends meet. It also seems that the US Government could avoid spending great amounts of money on a new bureaucratic Medicare prescription plan by just allowing US citizens to buy their drugs in Canada - That way everyone wins - Canada - the US govt and the US Tax payer. The likelihood of this happening is probably 0. The drug lobby in the states is VERY powerful and many of our representatives are receiving campaign contributions from them! In closing we request of our President and Congressional representatives - Let's approach this in a fair handed way - let us NOT allow one party (US citizens) to be punished while another (drug companies) is allowed to carry on in, at the least, an ethically questionable and, at the worst, possibly illegal manner! S.B.K.
S.B.K.
Atkinson, NH

Dear Senator: Enclosed is a letter of protest by me of actions taken against Canadian Pharmacies which are only meant to keep inflated drug prices for citizens and those living in the USA that need their products. We need to keep companies from keeping the American consumer from getting the best price on their medical needs. Especially if that company refuses to sell in the US at fair market price. Please help stop this action this company is taken, hurting me and fellow Americans when we can least afford it. I understand starting January 21, GSK has refused to supply any Canadian pharmacy that fills prescriptions for customers in the United States. I have a disabled wife who sometimes has to by from a Canadian pharmacy because her HMO won't cover her prescription and I have to pay out of pocket a lot more if I buy from a local pharmacy. We can't afford, with the state of the economy as it is right now, to overspend. Due to your price policy that gives people in the USA no relief which I think is un-American I plan to boycott your over the counter products, speak up at my union meetings asking my fellow union members to boycott your products and contact their State and local Representatives about your unfair pricing practice and opposition to having a choice of what pharmacy to use. I will also state my dissatisfaction to friends and family and tell them to contact State and Federal agencies to get Government involvement on your illegal action against Canadian Pharmacies and attempted price fixing. Please reconciler your stance and work in the best interest of the consumers that need your products living in the USA. Yours Truly, J.E.M.
J.E.M.
Glendale, AZ

I have been advised by my Canadian prescription drug providers that GSK is refusing to provide its products to them as long as they fill prescriptions for U.S. customers.I do not need to explain to you why American Seniors take the trouble to purchase in Canada something that is available at their local drugstore by only paying 4 or 5 hundred percent more. I am 75 years old. My husband is 77. We live on a small income, and so do most of our friends, and fellow churchgoers. We consider your actions immoral and the basest form of blackmail directed in a circular way to a most vulnerable sector of our society: the elders and the infirm. I am now starting an active campaign to ensure that everybody we know and in turn everybody THEY know, including our personal physicians boycot ALL your products, prescriptions and OTC. Also we will encourage our friends and acquaintances to sell or not to buy your stock as a matter of conscience. We are stock owners in a very small scale as most of our friends are, but in our church we regularly discuss objectionable actions by companies such as GSK's, to eliminate them and their products from our portfolios and our homes. We will also write to our Representatives in Washington, since it was Congress who made legal the "reimportation" of prescription drugs for seniors, from Canada. They will then get a taste of your contempt for their laws. And if by padding a few strategically placed pockets you eventually get your way, well, there is always Mexico. On the other hand, you could do the decent thing and retract your unfortunate actions and perhaps reduce your CEOs and Directors' pay by a few millions plus you could eliminate some of the sophomore level advertising that you ply the public with.
A.G.C.
Ormond Beach, FL

Thousands of us senior citizens purchase our drugs through Canadian drug stores because the very same drug made by the very same supplier is only 1/2 the cost in Canada as it is in the States. Now comes GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) refusing to supply its products to the Canadian Drug Stores that fill prescriptions to customers in the United States You have to understand the Canadian prices are about 1/2 the prices in the U.S. If such a situation continues to exist the elderly low income folks here at home will be FORCED to pay extrahigh prices for their medication, while GSK looks to improving their bottom line that only amounted to $8.8 BILLION before taxes in 2001. They could care less about people. They are after the almighty dollar! Please don't let this situation exist. Speak out for your constituents. Preserve their FREEDOM to buy their medication in Canada!
E.D.
Shalimar, FL

February 5, 2003 Dear Mr. Garnier: I am 79 years old, an eighth generation American, and my medical insurance is Medicare and a Medicare supplement. My doctors have prescribed prescription drugs for me to control atrial fibrillation, blood pressure, and the bladder. I appreciate the drug industry products. The research of the industry is admirable. It is also self-serving as it provides new products for the discoverer which are protected for a traditional period of time from competition. The industry is extremely profitable in the good old American free enterprise system. In the policy of full disclosure, my holdings include pharmaceutical stocks. My doctors select, test, and prescribe my drugs. They are my experts in the field of health care. When my doctors prescribe for me, we monitor for side effects. Price of the drugs is not a concern of my doctors. However, as a discerning buyer, I shop for the best price for prescription drugs, just as you do for any major purchase. If I can save 40 percent on an atrial fibrillation drug (which I take twice daily) by buying it in Canada, I do so. Today my Canadian source sent me the following: "Starting January 21, 2003, GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has refused to supply its products to any Canadian pharmacy that fills prescriptions for customers in the United States. In essence, they want to shut us down. They want to make more money at your expense. They want YOU to have no option but to pay the highest drug prices in the world." I do not expect to pay more as an American for a prescription drug made by an American pharmaceutical company! Mr. Garnier, your policy is un-American, contrary to fair trade practices, and very bad for my blood pressure. Stop this practice, stop telling me to "Ask my doctor …. " and make your profits honestly, competitively, and with fair business practices. Play fair with the American public. Sincerely, Congressman Charles Taylor Senator John Edwards Senator Elizabeth Dole
W.S.
Asheville, NC

Dear Sirs: I am unaccustomed to writing letters of this magnitude and emotion regarding any situation, but the fight to enable us in the U.S. to order expensive medications from Canada is of great importance to me. I am a senior on Medicare, living on my Social Security and my life depends on meds that are so expensive that it means life or death for me to be able to purchase them from Canada. I cannot afford the US prices of such meds as Plavix, Pravachol, Protonix, Zoloft, etc...and if I can't afford to buy them here in US it means I can't take them and I can die. I still find it difficult to afford them from Canada but at least though a struggle financially Canada is my only answer. Our Country does so much for other countries and yet our Seniors who are in need have little recourse for help. I have written to several companies for patients assistance but it has been at least 7 months since my doctors have sent forms and still no response. WE NEED TO BE ABLE TO CONTINUE HAVING OUR MEDICATIONS FROM CANADA TO SURVIVE OR OUR COUNTRY HAS TO DO SOMETHING TO ENABLE US TO FINANCIALLY AFFORD IT IN THIS COUNTRY. PLEASE HELP US TO CONTINUE AND JOIN IN OUR FIGHT FOR THIS RIGHT... Sincerely, L.K.
L.K.
Lauderhill, FL