Op-eds: Canadian and American regulators, law enforcement and patient advocates oppose drug importation
Since 2000, every head of the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has opposed drug importation because the benefits that might be gained are far outweighed by the many dangers. Law enforcement, patient advocates, pharmacy groups, and regulators agree.
Executive Director Shabbir Safdar’s editorial ran on May 15, 2024 in Colorado Politics
In this editorial, which appeared in the Corpus Christi Caller on June 30, 2023, Doctor of Pharmacy Kenneth McCall shares his negative experience with imported medicines.
Tom Kubic—an FBI veteran, former president and CEO of the Pharmaceutical Security Institute, and president of PSM’s governing board—has the experience to know that the risks of drug importation are “unacceptably high” and the potential rewards are “virtually nil.”
One proposed amendment which could delay, or derail prompt passage, would allow importation of drugs from other countries which have not been inspected or approved by the FDA. Because the FDA ensures strict oversight of purity and effectiveness of the drugs in our supply chain, this proposal is dangerous. Everyday customs officials are finding counterfeit drugs which are laced with dangerous ingredients like fentanyl, mercury, lead, or other toxins.
So, what does all of this have to do with importing drugs from a friendly nation like Canada? The simple, inarguable fact is that, once we open up our drug supply, we can no longer ensure the safety of the products in it.
Instead of wasting time and money on dangerous and faulty importation proposals, Congress should encourage the FDA to speed up the drug approval process and reduce the cost of program and application fees for future drug development. In 2022, the application fee for a human drug application will cost $1.6 million for drugs that don’t require clinical data and $3.1 million for medicines that do need clinical data.
In this February 24, 2022 editorial published on the Connecticut Business & Industry Association’s website, Paul Pescatello reviews the practical reasons that mean that importing drugs from Canada will not lower prescription drug prices. Pescatello is the executive director of CBIA’s Bioscience Growth Council and chair of We Work for Health Connecticut.
ADAP Advocacy Association CEO Brandon M. Macsata wrote this editorial, which appeared on the AIDS Drug Assistance Program’s website on April 1, 2021.
The Association first warned constituents that counterfeit Symtuza had been distributed to three U.S. pharmacies in December 2020, when Janssen issued an alert.
This editorial by the Sun Sentinel Editorial Board was published in The Sun Sentinel on December 9, 2020. The Editorial Board consists of Editorial Page Editor Rosemary O’Hara, Dan Sweeney, Steve Bousquet and Editor-in-Chief Julie Anderson. There Go Those Cheaper Drugs. Remember Florida’s plan to save money by importing prescription drugs in bulk from…
This editorial by Joyce Nelson appeared in Counter Punch on December 4, 2020. Nelson is a researcher and writer whose work appears in a wide range of magazines, newspapers and websites.