Illinois to Seek Exemption to Buy Drugs From Canada
By MONICA DAVEY

HICAGO, Dec. 21 — Rod R. Blagojevich, the governor of Illinois, will ask the federal authorities to permit the state to ignore federal law and buy prescription drugs from Canada, aides said Sunday.

The request, which was met with skepticism by a federal official, is the latest political maneuver in a swell of pressure from local and state leaders to cut costs by buying drugs outside the country's borders.

Mr. Blagojevich, who planned to send the request on Monday to Tommy G. Thompson, the secretary of health and human services, wants Illinois to be designated for the nation's first "federally approved drug importation pilot program."

While government officials elsewhere, including in New Hampshire, have announced that they will simply forge ahead and assist people in buying drugs from Canada, Mr. Blagojevich says he will not break the law. Instead, under his proposal, the federal authorities would waive the law and allow Illinois to save what the governor estimates could be up to $90.7 million a year by buying Canadian medicine for state employees and retirees.

In recent months, governors and mayors have increased pressure on the Food and Drug Administration to allow state and municipal governments to do what some older Americans have been doing on their own for years: filling prescriptions in Canada, where regulations make prices 30 to 50 percent lower.