By gloria stravelli
Staff Writer
CHRIS KELLY Through his new business, Discount Drugs of Canada, LLC, in Eatontown, Sidney Goldwert is helping people purchase their prescription medicine from pharmacies in Canada, often for less than they would be charged in the United States.
He isn’t a pharmacist, but Sidney Goldwert is helping customers stock their medicine chests with prescription drugs at prices that are 20-70 percent lower than at their local pharmacies.
Goldwert is the owner of the new Eatontown affiliate of Discount Drugs of Canada, LLC, a business that reimports prescription drugs from Canada, where drug prices are government regulated — and capped — at levels generally well below the prices they are sold on this side of the border.
Open for barely a month, Discount Drugs taps into a need for access to prescription medications at affordable prices, especially among seniors living on a fixed income and without the benefit of prescription drug plans.
"There’s a crisis in our country — people are in dire need of prescriptions but really can’t afford them," said Goldwert. "People come in here with stories that are unbelievable. They are breaking pills in half; sometimes they have to decide whether to fill the prescription or not. It’s heartbreaking."
Customers aren’t limited to seniors but include people without insurance, like those who’ve been downsized. Even people who have drug plans find that buying prescription drugs through the storefront is sometimes cheaper if their co-pay is high, he noted.
"I encourage them to do their homework, to call for a price, and then shop around before ordering," he added.
The Discount Drugs formula appears to be an idea whose time has come. Goldwert said business is booming at the storefront operation at 115 Route 35. Plus, the affiliate has a Web site, www.ddofceatontown.com.
"We already have about 2,500 prescriptions for drugs in the computer, from branded items to generics, that are sold here in America," said Goldwert, who has exclusive rights to the Monmouth County territory, where he plans to open another location in Long Branch.
Reached at Discount Drugs of Canada, LLC, headquarters in Delray Beach, Fla., this week, company founder Earle Turow said his year-old company has about 30,000 customers and ships close to 2,000 prescriptions per day throughout the country through 43 affiliates in 10 states that act as independent contractors and an Internet site.
"When I opened the first store, I had no inkling this was going to happen," he said. "It now looks like, based on how we’re heading, over the next year we will do $65 million in sales of brand-name and generic drugs."
Begun by Turow as an Internet site, the formula that is proving so successful for the company is storefront walk-in locations that provide a more accessible and familiar face, one that appeals to customers, especially seniors, who are the largest group of customers.
"Our target audience is primarily seniors, consequently a vast majority do not use computers, and if they do, it’s only for e-mail," Turow explained. "They feel nervous about putting their credit card information into cyberspace and love the idea of having someone there they can talk to."
Discount Drugs of Canada isn’t a pharmacy and doesn’t dispense drugs, Goldwert stressed.
"We’re just expediters," he said, explaining that the Eatontown affiliate offers a service to customers by placing orders and expediting the shipment of prescription drugs from licensed pharmacies in Canada to the customer’s residence.
Customers bring, mail or fax prescriptions written by their doctors to the store and provide a brief medical history that is reviewed by a physician on the staff of the Canadian pharmacy.
Payment is charged to the customer’s credit card by the Canadian pharmacy (certified checks or money orders also are accepted), and drugs are shipped to the customer’s residence within one to three weeks. Customers pay a $13 shipping fee. Refills can be ordered by phone, mail, fax or e-mail.
Customers’ records are confidential, and all paperwork is destroyed after being entered into the computer, Goldwert noted.
Price comparisons are impressive. A supply of 30, 25 mg pills of the anti-anxiety drug Zoloft costs $32.01 from Discount Drugs of Canada compared to $72.99 at a local pharmacy, according to the company’s advertised prices. Thirty, 20 mg pills of Lipitor, a cholesterol-lowering drug, cost $66.10 from Discount Drugs and $94.79 locally, Goldwert’s ad says, while the cost for 30, 10 mg Zyrtec, a cardiac medication, is $43.65 compared to $70.30.
Even health-care providers are catching on, said Goldwert, whose customers include doctors who are ordering drugs for in-house use.
One orthopedist found that an injectable drug manufactured in New Jersey cost $640 locally, but when shipped to Canada and reimported, cost only $329 for the same formula, he said.
Retired from his textile importing business, Goldwert was looking at options for a second career when he read an article about Discount Drugs and went to Delray Beach to check it out.
The West End resident said he saw a business that was lucrative and gratifying.
"I liked it because you’re doing some good, you know; it’s payback time. I never had a customer thank me for selling them something," Goldwert said. "They come in here and they’re amazed at the prices they can get their prescription drugs at."
The business model was appealing. Start-up costs weren’t too high — an initial capital investment of about $32,000 is required and affiliate owners get an 8.5 percent commission on sales.
Company projections show a monthly commission of more than $18,000 and net annual pre-tax profit of $120,000 based on 30 orders averaging $300 per day. Those figures increase to $37,000 and $293,000, respectively, based on 60 orders per day.
"Plus, there is no stocking of inventory because we keep nothing here," he noted.
"They showed me that they were doing about $150,000 a week in sales of prescription drugs in their first year of operation."
While Discount Drugs of Canada claims all medications it orders meet U.S. Federal Drug Administration standards, until recently this was a gray area. Some published reports called the discount drug operation illegal because the dispensing pharmacies are not under FDA supervision. According to Turow, however, the Canadian government recently stepped up and said it will take responsibility for the safety and quality of prescription drugs that are shipped across the border.
"We keep our ear to the ground. We don’t know how long the window is going to be open," Turow acknowledged. "I think it will be until the government, with or without the cooperation of the pharmaceutical houses, passes a bill to give people at least a 40 percent discount."
Reimporting drugs from Canada has drawn opposition from U.S. pharmaceutical companies, trade groups and pharmacy chains that are losing money to Canadian pharmacies.
But Goldwert said the discount drug operation is not only legal, but gives people access to necessary medications without having to sacrifice their standard of living.
"I don’t think it’s illegal," said Goldwert. "We’re not doing anything but helping a lot of people save a lot of money."