OUR COMMUNICATION TO THE MEDIA

 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

February 4, 2003

 

 

TCDS.com—"Say NO to Corporate Bullying"

Canadian Mail Order Pharmacy Asks U.S. Customers to Retaliate Against Glaxo

 

Toronto, Ontario, Canada-- TCDS, Inc (TCDS.com), the pioneer mail order supplier of prescription drugs to U.S. consumers, today sent a letter to its U.S. customers urging them to fight back against the efforts of drug giant GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to cut off their supply of safe, effective, less expensive prescription drugs from Canada.   GSK recently notified Canadian wholesalers that their supplies of Glaxo drugs would be cut off if they continued to sell to pharmacies that supply patients in the U.S. 

 

“Glaxo, whose sales this year will exceed $30 billion, is trying to squeeze a few more dollars out of American consumers, many of whom cannot afford exorbitant U.S. prices for their life enhancing or even life saving drugs,” said Billy Shawn, President of TCDS. 

 

“This is literally a matter of life or death for many Americans. We are urging our customers, and all others in the U.S. who are concerned about the high cost of prescription drugs, to express their displeasure to GSK in a way the company will understand,” said Shawn.  “Since Glaxo is putting profits over patients, we are suggesting that patients take actions that will impact the company’s bottom line,” Shawn added. 

 

The letter calls for GSK customers and others to contact GSK’s headquarters in North Carolina, to stop buying GSK consumer products and to take actions as shareholders or members of pension plans to dump Glaxo stock. 

 

“Our customers are primarily the uninsured, the elderly on fixed incomes and those suffering with chronic diseases.  Without us, they would pay the highest pharmaceutical prices in the WORLD.  The bottom line is most simply can’t afford it.  GSK is trying to bully us out of the marketplace, depriving millions of Americans the opportunity to obtain the medicines that are crucial to their health and well being. The only recourse left to consumers is to retaliate in the marketplace and refrain from buying products such as Aquafresh, Tums, Gaviscon, Citrucel and other GSK brands.  It’s the only language they understand,” Shawn stated.

 

 

-MORE-

 

 

GSK claims there is a potential danger that drugs shipped through the mail may lose their potency or become adulterated.  Such concerns ignore the huge volume of drugs safely shipped to patients through the mail every day by Canadian as well as U.S. mail order pharmacies. 

 

“To claim that it is unsafe for a licensed pharmacist to ship drugs to a patient in the U.S. pursuant to a valid prescription written by a physician in the U.S. and reviewed by another physician in Canada is ridiculous,” said Shawn.    

 

“If Glaxo can get away with this, the other big drug companies will surely follow, “ said Shawn, who noted that such an action would “directly threaten the health of hundreds of thousands of patients in the U.S,” Shawn concluded.

 

 

 

TCDS, Inc (TCDS.com), was the first online pharmacy serving the American Market.  TCDS.com has over 100,000 American customers and is dedicated to meeting the Rx needs of the uninsured, the elderly on fixed incomes and others held hostage to the highest drug prices in the world.

 

 

To see a copy of the letter to TCDS customers please go to www.TCDS.com and click on “Defending Your Rights” icon.

 

 

-30-