July 29, 2020 video: Importation Executive Order Explainer

On July 24, 2020, the White House issued an executive order to implement three approaches to foreign drug importation, all of which involve dipping into other countries’ drug supplies and putting them in U.S. medicine cabinets. Watch this week’s video to learn more.

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July 15, 2020 video: The Slow Boat to Justice–Prosecuting Foreign Drug Counterfeiters

Importing medicine from Canada is more dangerous than it looks because it is so difficult to prosecute fake or substandard drug sellers. Legislators and their consultants make it sound as if holding a foreign vendor accountable will be easy, but history has shown that the U.S. federal government, with all of its agreements, power, and resources, still struggles to bring criminals to justice.

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HHS comments come in overwhelmingly against Canadian drug importation proposal

Yesterday ended a 78-day comment period for the White House’s proposal to import medicine from Canada. In all, over 1,000 comments were filed. Overwhelmingly, these comments opposed the proposed rule or expressed skepticism that the rule could meet the two requirements listed in the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003: be safe and save consumers money. In fact, when you read the comments, it is clear that this policy is overwhelming opposed by experts on the issues of economics and medicine safety.

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Canadian Importation Does Not Work

graph comparing the population of Canada to the US

The number of U.S. residents in states that are considering importing drugs from Canada is almost four times Canada’s own population. Canadian drug importation is not the structural solution we need.

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President of the International AntiCounterfeiting Coalition Warns That Importation Will Open the Door to Drug Counterfeiters

In the midst of a nationwide epidemic of opioid addiction fueled by illicit smuggling of drugs from overseas, and coming on the heels of a year in which U.S. Customs and Border Protection seized over $73 million worth of counterfeit medicines at our nation’s ports, some members of Congress have suggested a novel approach to these growing threats: “opening the floodgates.”

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Op-Ed: Why Drug Importation Is Flawed Policy

Mike Leavitt | March 20, 2017 With the issue of prescription drug importation being debated on Capitol Hill again, mark me in the skeptical camp. As a matter of safety and practical policymaking, drug importation simply doesn’t work. It is not by happenstance that our country has the world’s safest drug supply. Counterfeit medicines are proliferating…

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No Such Thing as a “Safe Country” for Drug Importation

With talks about drug importation continuing in Congress, drug importation supporters argue that if the United States allows importation only from “safe countries,” such as Canada and the United Kingdom, than most of drug safety concerns would be eliminated. However, when it comes to drug importation, there is no such thing as a “safe” country.

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