'Put me out of business,' Canadian pharmacist says
By KRIS HUNDLEY
Published September 13, 2004
Daren Jorgenson is a Canadian pharmacist who has lots of customers in the Tampa Bay area, though he's beginning to wish he didn't.
Because of the popularity of Jorgenson's online pharmacy, www.canadameds.com his revenues have grown to nearly $200-million Canadian over the past five years. Most of those sales are to Americans, who can save as much as 80 percent on their prescriptions by buying through Canada.
But Jorgenson's success has made him a target of big drugmakers, who aren't pleased by the billions of U.S. sales going north of the border. Within the last year, several major pharmaceutical companies, particularly Pfizer, have been cutting off their wholesale supply to Canadian pharmacists with large U.S. sales. Jorgenson tried to circumvent Pfizer's squeeze by sourcing drugs through New Zealand. Now Pfizer is putting the same pressure on that nation's pharmacists.
That's made Jorgenson mad enough to set up a Web site, challenging Americans to band together and lobby their elected officials for lower drug prices at home.
"I want you to put me out of business by electing politicians that will bring affordable prescription prices to American pharmacies," Jorgenson said. "Don't let the FDA put me out of buiness! Don't let the drug companies put me out of business! I want America to put me out of business."
