What's happening now?
In an effort to try and reduce health care costs, the Governor and members of the Connecticut legislature have proposed a broad array of proposals to reduce the cost of health care for Connecticut residents. While PSM applauds efforts to reduce the cost of healthcare, proposals that circumvent the FDA and state board of pharmacy regulated supply chain are dangerous and ill-advised.
While some Americans do currently go to Canadian pharmacies and get medicine, Canada is not willing to allow Americans in any state to wholesale import medicine out of the Canadian drug supply. Both American and Canadian officials, regulators, and patients groups have all opposed this idea because it would create shortages in Canada and expose Americans to unscrupulous vendors.
Canada's population of 37 million people cannot possibly supply America's 300+ million unless you begin to bring in black market medication from uninspected facilities in China and India, something that has been the hallmark of the fake Canadian pharmacy industry for over a decade. In fact in 2013 after Maine tried importation, counterfeit medicines were found in the Maine drug supply, including a counterfeit blood thinner sold by a Canadian company.
Tell your elected officials that you want them to address high healthcare costs but without sacrificing safety. We don't have time to pursue ideas that will be impossible to implement safely.
This process is just two short steps. You put in your address, and then we lookup the addresses of the Governor and your senator and assembly person and display your letter for approval.
Frequently Asked Questions About Canadian Importation
Are you saying that medicine bought at brick and mortar pharmacies in Canada is unsafe?
No. Though Canada also has a counterfeit problem, it's pretty safe for people who walk into Canadian pharmacies. But Canada doesn't have sufficient supply for their own populace and are currently experiencing shortages in over 1,700 medicines today.
If we tried to import Canadian medicine, what we'd get would be supply from foreign sources that has not been inspected by Health Canada. There is a large and advanced group of criminals in Canada who have been using this technique to send counterfeit medicines to Americans since the early 2000's. These counterfeits including everything from cancer medication to maintenance medicines to prescription opioids that look real but contain fentanyl.
But what I've seen is people talking about importing medicine from the Canadian drug supply with the blessing of the Canadian government.
No, there is no regulator in Canada that supports Americans raiding their drug supply. In fact many groups representing regulators and healthcare professionals warn that Americans are likely to not get real Canadian medicine, and if they did, it would create an enormous shortage problem in Canada. See "Canada is against the U.S. importing its drugs" in this handout.
Even medicine that appears to be shipped from Canada is not necessarily Canadian. You can learn more about this regulatory loophole called "transshipping" on our website.
But aren't all of our medicines already made in foreign countries like China and India already?
Many of the medicines we take today are made in China and India and other foreign countries. However only a small percentage of the manufacturers in these countries are currently inspected by the FDA and maintain Good Manufacturing Practices that are safe enough for American consumption. There are thousands of other that are not.
It's incredibly dangerous to suggest that just because some factories in China are safe, that they all are.