By Monique Balas
News-Chronicle
Traditionally, Americans look to Canada in search of maple syrup, a good hockey game and vacation spots.
Now many Americans - especially seniors - are looking to the neighbor to the north for low-cost prescription drugs.
Canada Drug Service Wisconsin, which opened last week in Green Bay and celebrated with a ribbon-cutting ceremony Monday, is providing an alternative.
The store, located on Voyager Drive in the I-43 Industrial Park, is one business of many that forward prescriptions to Canadian doctors, who rewrite the prescriptions and ship drugs back from Canadian distributors.
The store is an alternative for people whose prescriptions are not covered by insurance.
The store does not charge customers a fee for its service; it profits from the commission it gets from the Canadian pharmacies.
Regional franchise operator Ted Farah learned about the chain when his father went to a Canada Drug Service store in Florida.
"We plan on continuing this service and being a success for everyone else who does not have insurance," said Farah.
Farah's wife, Laura, owns the Green Bay store and hopes to open another one soon in Marinette. A store in Wauwatosa opened last month, and the Farahs hope to open outlets in Sheboygan, Madison, Oshkosh and Milwaukee.
The U.S. pharmaceutical industry is the most profitable in the nation, raking in 19 percent profit margins, said Sen. Dave Hansen, D-Green Bay, who spoke at Monday's ribbon cutting.
"One need only look at the price differences between the U.S. and Canada to see why so many people are looking north," Hansen said. A three-month supply of Glucophage, a medication for diabetics, costs $60 here compared to $14 in Canada. Tamoxifen is priced at $241 vs. $34.
"There are people that are dying because they can't afford their meds," Hansen said.
But American pharmacists, who compete with the store, offer a different perspective.
"It's something we're concerned about, but obviously it affects everyone. It's good and bad," said Bill Markowski, a pharmacist at Krider's Pharmacy & Gifts on West Mason Street.
He said he expects pharmacies to lose some business over the Canada Drug phenomenon. At the same time, he cautioned people who use the service not to expect pharmacists to offer free counsel on their medications.
"We can't really compete with their prices, but I like to say we offer the complete package as far as the service goes," said. "You're not going through mail order, it's like ordering out of a catalog. You don't have anyone who knows anything about your allergies, your specific conditions."
Pharmacists screen patients for drug interactions, look out for drug allergies, advise on how to take the medications, whether or not to take it on an empty or full stomach and how to store the medication.
"I cannot blame somebody, especially with a limited income, to try to find a place to get things cheaper," Markowski said. "So I do not blame the individual or person themselves. I guess my biggest gripe is with the system in the U.S."
He added: "But we're going to be a lot more hesitant in terms of drug interactions, side effects - they're not going to be warned about these types of things."
Ron Antonneau, who represents on the Brown County Board and Green Bay City Council the district in which the drug store is located, said he supports the venture.
"Any time that you can help senior citizens, that is tremendous," Antonneau said.
Rep. Judy Krawczyk, R-Green Bay, said she was fine with the store as long as it complied with federal Food and Drug Administration regulations.
"It sounded reasonable to me today, but what I always worry about is the standards," Krawczyk said. "As long as they're legal and have FDA approval, then they have my blessing."
Door
County news 
