U.S. v. Rx Depot

Citation: United States v. Rx Depot, Inc., 290 F. Supp. 2d 1238 (N.D. Okla. 2003).

Factual Background
The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) sued a Nevada company that assisted U.S. residents to obtain prescription drugs from Canada. Rx Depot employees, operating out of 85 storefront locations throughout the United States, would fax a customer’s prescription and credit card information to a cooperating pharmacy in Canada. A Canadian doctor would rewrite the prescription and the pharmacy would ship the drugs directly to the customer.

Trial Court Decision
The court entered a preliminary injunction, holding that the defendant’s actions violated several provisions of the FDA Act. In particular, the court found that the defendant violated 21 U.S.C. §331(d) by furnishing an unapproved new drug, namely a generic version of an FDA-approved drug, and violated Section 381(d)(1) by importing from Canada an FDA-approved drug manufactured in the United States. The case was resolved through the entry of a consent order.