Winnipeg Free Press - PRINT EDITION
Online pharmacist eludes ban
"ö Strempler moves business to Caribbean "ö Manitoba regulators can't stop him now
Andrew Strempler (PHIL HOSSACK / WINNIPEG FREE PRESS ARCHIVES)
An Internet pharmacist who recently lost his credentials to practise in Manitoba is distributing generic drugs from an online pharmaceutical business based on an island off the coast of Venezuela.
The Free Press confirmed online pharmacy pioneer Andrew Strempler's business, PharmaCheck, started operating in a free-trade zone in Curacao in August 2006 -- the same month the U.S. Food and Drug Administration first warned consumers prescription drugs from Strempler's Manitoba-based online pharmacy, RxNorth, were unsafe.
Strempler did not respond to interview requests from the Free Press, and an employee at his Curacao office said he is currently in Panama. His company's website says PharmaCheck Canada has expanded beyond the North American market and now ships generic pharmaceutical products to Europe, Central and South America and the Caribbean.
The news that Strempler is still in business outside Manitoba comes as a shock to local regulators, who recently wrapped up a three-year probe into allegations his Minnedosa-based Internet pharmacy sold counterfeit prescription drugs to Americans. Strempler agreed to strike his name from the provincial pharmacist registry and pay $7,500 as part of a deal to stay the charges against him at a discipline hearing last October. Experts say it's the most severe penalty that can be handed to a pharmacist and prevents Strempler from renewing his licence to practise in Manitoba.
The measure has no force in other jurisdictions, and Manitoba Pharmaceutical Association registrar Ronald Guse said he's frustrated by their limited capacity to investigate complaints against online businesses. He said the association needs help from both provincial and federal governments on how to proceed when a serious allegation is brought against cross-border pharmacies.
"This isn't like ordering a book or a record -- you're talking about drugs people need to maintain or sustain their life," Guse said.
The Manitoba Pharmaceutical Association alleged Strempler dispensed drugs that were not approved by Health Canada out of a location in the Bahamas and sold them to Americans labelled as if they originated in Canada. The body accused Strempler's firm of selling prescription drugs that were close to, or past, their expiry date.
Strempler was one of the country's first Internet pharmacy entrepreneurs, capitalizing on the cross-border sale of cheap drugs at age 25 when he sold Nicorette gum on eBay. The idea prompted Strempler, his wife Catherine and pharmacy friends Mark and Chantelle Rzepka to start Mediplan in 2001, a business once estimated to be worth $1 billion.
Strempler bought out his partners in 2005 and eventually sold the business in late 2006 after the FDA warnings surfaced.
At the time, he publicly denied any wrongdoing and said the allegations were "completely false."
Internet pharmacy entrepreneur Daren Jorgenson said he sold three of his cross-border pharmacies in 2006 after he couldn't compete with other businesses shipping what he calls "substandard product" at drastically reduced prices. He said regulators like the FDA need to "clean up" what's going on before he gets back in the business.
"We're just buying our drugs from a legitimate source and these guys are buying it (from) all over the world," Jorgenson said.
Manitoba Internet Pharmacists Association president Troy Harwood-Jones said Internet pharmacies based in Manitoba are safe and only ship medicines that originate in Canada. He called the regulator's cry for a crackdown a "smear campaign" and said there are no documented reports of harm from any consumer who purchased prescription drugs from a Manitoba-based online pharmacy.
"It is a reality that there are dangers on the Internet," Harwood-Jones said. "That doesn't mean the industry is unsafe."
Republished from the Winnipeg Free Press print edition February 26, 2010 A3
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7 Comments
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Posted by: Gord R
February 26, 2010 at 6:44 PM
I would have thought the manufacturers of the drugs in question would want this guy nailed as he's drastically undercutting the prevailing price in the USA and probably other countries, thereby reducing drug company profits. Canada is fortunate in that most provinces have Pharmacare or equivalent plans and they 'gang up' on the drug companies and negotiate lower prices based on huge quantities used by a small number of entities: "Give us a deal or we will refuse to cover your product under our plan." Obviously drugs not covered will see declines in sales as the public lines up to buy products that ARE covered. If memory serves, the big drug companies threatened to withdraw products in jurisdictions buying at bargain basement prices and allowing sales in higher priced/higher profit jurisdictions. Oh silly me! That was probably ruled 'unconstitutional' or in violation of one or more of our hyper-politically correct laws. Of course self-regulating professions can suspend licences but are otherwise toothless. Like the justice system, the drug supply and marketing system is broken and in need of effective regulation from OUTSIDE the profession.
Posted by: jon dingleberry
February 26, 2010 at 11:32 AM
So, internet pharmacies sell lower cost brand name drugs to mostly USA. Drug companies stop selling drugs to internet pharmacies b/c why let them profit from their own product . One internet pharmacy then finds "tainted' drugs elsewhere and continues business offshore whilst still claiming to be Canadian.
Now Guse wants federal gov't to provide tax payer money to investigate internet pharmacies when complaint is made from foreign country? Why not let the foreign country investigate. It's not like the drugs are going to third world countries ie the certainly have the means to police their own borders.
Posted by: frustrated
February 26, 2010 at 10:21 AM
Why are these reports surfacing now? Is it because the election of the MPha president is just weeks away!!!. Lets bring up old news so that we can refresh the minds of the Pharmacists about the IPS pharmacies.
As I have said before why can you not let this rest, he is not part of the IPS anymore so why bring it up all the charges on him as stated in this article have been stayed so let it rest.....
Posted by: craig
February 26, 2010 at 9:05 AM
This guy has gone from being a legitimate business man to one who has moved off and is now a very shady character. They will catch up with you Andrew!
Posted by: Fetchen Kerri
February 26, 2010 at 8:49 AM
Wasn't there comments on the original story from friends or former employees about how nice this guy was? Ya, not so much. I don't think I'd buy a used car from this guy never mind prescription medicine.
Posted by: alfalfa
February 26, 2010 at 8:29 AM
Why was he not charged with fraud and arrested in 2006?
Posted by: BomberBoy
February 26, 2010 at 8:14 AM
The Manitoba government should have stepped in and helped this company survive. If it was indeed at one time worth a billion dollars, that sounds to me like a huge Manitoba success story that fell through some sort of bureacratic crack. It's really too bad that we had to run this guy out of town, I'm sure some of that money he made was put back into our local economy.