A recent opinion column in the Bangor Daily News shows the extent to which the Maine Pharmacy and Maine Retail associations will go to protect their profits while restricting access to affordable and lifesaving medications for Mainers.
Their self-serving attack is deliberately misleading and contains outright lies about the Great British Drug Store, which two weeks ago began offering safe, quality prescription drugs online at prices up to 70 percent lower than the same drugs in the U.S. Despite the claims of these two organizations, the Great British Drug Store’s pharmacy adheres to the strictest U.K. and European regulations, which are as strong or stronger than the Food and Drug Administration requirements in the U.S.
The prescription medicines we offer online at the Great British Drug Store are the same drugs we offer at our U.K. dispensing business, which owns over 60 bricks-and-mortar pharmacies and which is the largest independent chain of pharmacies in the U.K.
Our medicines are prescribed to people from all walks of life, from the lowest socioeconomic groups to the highest, including politicians and even royalty. We have been approved by PharmacyChecker.com, the only independent company that verifies U.S. and international online pharmacies and compares prescription drug prices. When you buy from the Great British Drug Store, you can be as certain as you are when you visit your local CVS or Walgreens that you are getting genuine, safe medicines.
The opinion article also claims that providing this affordable option to the people of Maine is against the law. This is false. Last year, Maine adopted legislation — sponsored by Sen. Troy Jackson, D-Allagash — to allow the importation of prescription drugs into Maine from certain countries, including the U.K., where quality control and regulations are comparable to the FDA’s. We also have worked for more than a year with U.S., U.K. and Maine officials to ensure that selling prescribed medicines to Maine residents in the manner we do violates no laws.
One of the most misleading accusations is the authors’ contention that there are no measures in place to protect the public should they experience adverse reactions to our medicines. This is a scare tactic. In fact, customers of the Great British Drug Store have the same protections as customers of local pharmacies. The drug manufacturers are liable in the exact same way they are in the U.S.
The most extreme example of the Maine Pharmacy Association’s misleading tactics concerns the claim that prescription drugs are actually cheaper at Maine pharmacies than at the Great British Drug Store. This is laughable. In the authors’ column, the organizations compare the price of a 90-day supply of 40mg generic Lipitor (atorvastatin), which sells for $9.99 at a local Hannaford, to the brand-name Lipitor on our website, which sells for $108.40 for a 28-day supply.
Comparing a 90-day supply of a generic to a 28-day supply of a brand-name drug is apples-and-oranges, and again, a deliberate attempt by the authors to mislead the public.
Here are the facts:
A 30-day supply of 40 mg brand-name Lipitor, manufactured by Pfizer, sells at CVS in Portland for $258.82. A 28-day supply of the same drug sells for just $108.40 on greatbritishdrugstore.com, for a savings of about $150. The authors claim that Hannaford sells a 90-day supply of an FDA-approved generic Lipitor for $9.99, but we can supply a U.K. generic Lipitor for just $6.00 for a 90-day supply.
It’s unfortunate that the Maine Pharmacy Association and Maine Retail Association feel they have to resort to outright lies rather than compete fairly in the marketplace. They do so because they know that the outrageous and immoral prices charged by pharmaceutical manufacturers in the U.S. are indefensible.
But times are changing. We invite all Maine consumers to see for themselves. Go to greatbritishdrugstore.com and compare our prices with what you are paying in the U.S. for the exact same medicines.
You’ll be astonished at the savings, and the level of security and confidence you receive will be the same as you receive at your local pharmacy, guaranteed.
Mary O’Brien is managing director of the Great British Drug Store.