State Regulation of Canadian Pharmacies: A Prescription to Violate the Supremacy Clause

Abstract

“This Constitution, and the Laws of the United States … shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.”Under the Supremacy Clause of the United States Constitution, federal law, such as the Federal Food Drug and Cosmetic Act (“FDCA”), is supposed to be the “supreme Law of the Land.” The FDCA establishes a national closed domestic distribution system for approved prescription drugs in an effort to ensure drug integrity and safety. In doing so, it purportedly sets the “gold standard” for prescription drugs regulation around the world. Lately, though, this “gold standard” has been tarnished by personal importation, the practice of buying prescription drugs directly from foreign pharmacies—primarily Canadian—in conflict with the FDCA's restrictions on unapproved drugs and importation.