Importation
Former Florida AG: Importing prescription drugs could worsen opioid crisis
Bill McCollum, former attorney general of Florida and member of Congress, wrote about the dangers of drug importation on August 8, 2017:
“Opening the door to increased prescription drug importation will just make it easier for smugglers to ship this dangerous opioid into the United States. For years, we have asked police officers and prosecutors to do more with less. There are few signs that austerity will end. Changing laws to encourage importation of drugs would only add to that burden.”
[...]Georgia Sheriff: Keep Dangerous Foreign Opioids Out Of Georgia
Terry W. Deese, Peach County, Georgia Sheriff and president of the Georgia Sheriffs’ Association, wrote this editorial for the Macon Telegraph. It was published on July 27, 2017.
“Georgia’s law-enforcement professionals and health officials are scurrying to stop the spread of these harmful pills. But in Washington, Congress may soon make it easier for counterfeit drugs like these — along with illicit prescription medicines — to enter the United States.
This effort doesn’t make any sense. Loosening restrictions on drug importation will worsen the opioid crisis.”
[...]AIDS Drug Assistance Advocate: Drug importation policy is a hard pill to swallow
Brandon Macsata, the CEO of the AIDS Drug Assistance Program Advocacy Association, writes about the dangerous unreliability of imported medicines. (Originally published in the The Washington Blade and the ADAP blog.)
[...]Shepherd M (2018) U.S. Drug Importation: Impact on Canada’s Prescription Drug Supply. Health Econ Outcome Res Open Access 4: 146.
This research paper is an update to The Effect Of U.S. Pharmaceutical Drug Importation On The Canadian Pharmaceutical Supply, published in 2010.
[...]This Just In: Law Enforcement Groups Oppose Drug Importation Proposals
This Just In: Law Enforcement Groups Oppose Drug Importation Proposals Drug importation endangers patients and the American drug supply and worsens the opioid crisis “[T]he IACP is gravely concerned about the dangers law enforcement personnel and their canine drug detecting partners are subject to each time they come into contact with fentanyl [..] the IACP…
[...]National Sheriffs’ Association Opposes Legislation On Drug Importation
The National Sheriffs’ Association passed a resolution at their conference opposing pending drug importation proposals. The resolution highlighted multiple reasons why drug importation is a bad idea for everyone…
[...]Kansas Woman Convicted of Tax Evasion Also Faces Counterfeit Drug Charges
Example of counterfeit Botox courtesy USFDA. The former owner of a Leawood, Kansas business, Midwest Medical Aesthetics, has been charged with importation of misbranded drugs. Kathleen Stegman has been charged with illegally importing $194,000 worth of non-FDA approved “Botox,” Dysport,” “Restylane,” “Perlane,” and “Sculptra,” according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Stegman is currently…
[...]Former Attorneys General of Georgia and Florida Speak Out Against Drug Importation
The bills before Congress would remove many of the license and oversight requirements on the drugs imported into the United States by lifting those barriers, inviting an influx of bogus pharmaceutical products from the same crime rings that are selling these drugs in other countries around the world that would love better access to the U.S. market.
Law enforcement would inevitably be tasked with policing the problem, at a time when most prosecutors and law enforcement officials have their hands full with the growing opioid crisis. One of the biggest killers is fentanyl, a potent, synthetic opioid pain medication that is being laced into counterfeit pills.
[...]Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies Poll Finds Many Unaware of Dangers Posed by Fake Online Pharmacies
A new survey conducted by the Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies (ASOP) has found that a majority of Americans are in the dark when it comes to dangers posed by unlicensed online pharmacies.
[...]Maryland Pharmacists Association Director: Importing Drugs May Endanger Patients
This editorial by Aliyah N. Horton, the executive director of the Maryland Pharmacists Association, was published in the Baltimore Sun on July 19, 2017.
In it, Horton points out the “huge public health risk” posed by buying imported drugs, and urges legislators to vote against unsafe drug importation, and to “seek other avenues to improve patient access, safety and drug affordability.”
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