Hawaii law to buy cheap prescription drugs from Canada fails

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Hawaii's attempt to save seniors money by shipping cheap prescription drugs from Canada never got off the ground, a casualty of politics and unprofitability.

Republican Gov. Linda Lingle's administration refused to implement the law, which was passed last year when the state's majority Democratic Legislature overrode her veto. The Canadian drug supplier later dropped out of the importing program.

Hawaii was the sixth state to enroll in the program called I-SaveRx, which would have shipped drugs from overseas suppliers to island mailboxes. The other states were Illinois, Wisconsin, Missouri, Kansas and Vermont.

Lingle's administration didn't act on the law because of fears that it's illegal. Federal law prohibits foreign drug imports, although that law hasn't always been enforced.