Canadian drug pipeline in danger. (Short Takes).

A growing number of Americans seeking to lower their drug bills are filling their prescriptions outside the U.S., primarily in Canada where drug prices are much lower due to price controls.

The Manitoba International Pharmacists Association estimates that I million Americans order their medications from Canada These American customers even had some limited success getting insurers to pay for the medications.

Patient access to such prescriptions may soon be cut off, as drug manufacturers take action to halt the flow of drugs. GlaxoSmithKline, for example, announced plans to halt shipments of all its products to the wholesalers, who supply a number of Canadian-based Internet pharmacies that serve U.S. customers unless these Web sites stop selling to Americans.

The drug makers argue that their products are only intended for sale in Canada and are not to be exported back into the U.S. The pharmaceutical companies say the issue is safety not profits.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration agrees there are potential safety issues, "There's the potential for interactions, the potential for counterfeit products to come into the U.S. and the potential for the presence of untested substances in medicine' says Tom McGinnis, director of pharmacy affairs for the FDA.

While the bureaucrats and drug moguls fret about theoretical safety issues, Joan Jurkiewicz, a customer of CrossBorderPharmacy.com worries how she will obtain the prescriptions her husband needs. She says she cannot afford to buy from her local pharmacy.

James A. Hawkins in a health care writer based in Aiken, S.C. He can be reached by phone at [phone] or by e-mail at [e-mail].