OTTAWA, Feb 18 (Reuters) – The Canadian government is considering a total ban on exports of price-controlled patented drugs as a way of preserving the country's lower prices for medicine, Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh said on Friday. By Randall Palmer Fri Feb 18, 2005 01:24 PM ET Read the full story at reuters.com.

WINNIPEG – The Minnesota government has started contacting First Nations in the state to see if they'd be willing to provide citizens with prescription drugs from Canada. CBC News Fri, 18 Feb 2005 Read the full story at cbc.ca.

The Ministry of Health welcomes the convictions of a Dunedin company, Vanilla Limited, and its two shareholders in relation to the sale of prescription medicines over the internet in breach of the Medicines Act 1981. Press Release: Ministry of Health Friday, 18 February 2005 Read the full story at scoop.co.nz.

Indian bands in Manitoba and neighbouring Minnesota are talking about using their special ''sovereign'' status to trade prescription drugs across the border, possibly to be sold at pharmacies located in native-run casinos in the United States. Tom Blackwell, National Post Friday, February 18, 2005 Read the full story at .com.

A FORMER medical representative was arrested in a buy-bust operation that also led to the seizure of counterfeit and expired drugs worth about P5 million. By Leila Salaverria, Inquirer News Service Feb 18, 2005 Read the full story at news.inq7.net.

Thousands of fake diamond-shaped little blue pills that promise to improve male sexual performance have flooded KwaZulu-Natal. By Kuben Chetty and Sapa February 17, 2005 Read the full story at dailynews.co.za.

BIRMINGHAM, Ala. A Jefferson County man was sent to federal prison Tuesday for drug charges that crisscrossed the United States. February 17, 2005 Read the full story at whnt.com.

DES MOINES, Iowa — The number of consumers importing prescription medication online is increasing, posing serious health risks for patients, according to one Food and Drug Administration official. Kate McGinty, Writer February 15, 2005 Read the full story at theiowachannel.com.

After years of washing its hands of the booming trade in cross-border Internet drug sales, the federal government has now declared it is no longer prepared to see Canada serve as a bargain-basement drugstore for the United States. Feb. 14, 2005 Read the full story at thestar.com.

Some Americans have turned to Canada to obtain their prescription drugs in an effort to save money. What many of them don't know is that in doing so they are laying a bet with something that is priceless: their health. Frank Lavernia, M.D., Coconut Creek Read the full story at sun-sentinel.com.