Drug Importation in Texas: An Overview

Map of Texas with prescription pill bottle to the left. The bottle a label with a maple leaf that's peeling away to reveal a skull and crossbones.

Current status:

The Texas Legislature introduced House Bill 25, the Wholesale Prescription Drug Importation Act, in November 2022. PSM shared an analysis of the bill with the Texas House committee that you can read.

The bill which has been signed by the Governor, will require the executive commissioner of Texas's Health and Human Services Commission to take action to establish Canadian drug importation beginning in September 2023. The agency shared a report about the program in December 2023.

Synopsis / Media Contact

H.B. 25  requires Texas’ Health and Human Services Commission to design a program for bulk importing prescription medicines under 21 USC 384 of the U.S. Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act, more commonly known as a Section 804 State Importation Program (SIP).

For over two decades these programs have proven to be impossible to build safely because:

This legislation has been pushed without concern for the consequences. As many states discovered during the pandemic trying to buy hard-to-find N95 masks, buying medical products that aren't readily available creates great risk of counterfeit products. PSM believes that the Texas legislature is forcing it's patients and pharmacists to take unacceptable risks with patient health and pharmacist liability by enacting this program without looking at the risks.

PSM Executive Director Shabbir Imber Safdar is available to do interviews to explain the risks of this program to media. Contact him through editors@safemedicines.org and specify your print deadline.

Official actions and statements

 

Planning documents

Background / resources

Just learning about the Texas foreign drug importation proposal? Start with some of these resources that outline the safety issues.

PSM Materials:

Op-eds from the Experts

Pacific Research Institute CEO Begs Florida to Keep Counterfeit Drugs out of The State

March 20, 2019

Counterfeits coming from Canada have been a big issue in the Sunshine State. The FDA has identified dozens of counterfeit drugs coming into Florida from foreign pharmacies.

Pharmacist, educator and PSM board member speaks out against drug importation in Florida

March 20, 2019

“Several other states have attempted to legalize drug importation, but all have failed to show that it’s safe or saves money. The federal government has determined multiple times that drug importation can’t be done safely. I hope, for the sake of Floridians, that state policymakers come to that same conclusion.”

Gregg Keller, source: Gage Skidmore, via Wikimedia Commons

Former Executive Director of the American Conservative Union believes importation will hurt Americans

March 12, 2019

In this editorial, published in The Missouri Times on March 11, 2019, Gregg Keller warns that “the issue at hand is not so much the safety of Canadian drugs but the dangers of the global drug trade. Often, pharmacies that claim to be “Canadian” are anything but.”

National Association of Manufacturers Exec Warns that Florida’s Importation Plan Sacrifices Safety

March 7, 2019

In this March 5, 2019 editorial, published on the National Association of Manufacturers blog, Robyn Boerstling, the organization’s Vice President of Infrastructure, Innovation and Human Resources Policy, raises concerns about Florida’s drug importation proposal.

HIV-Positive Advocate Reminds Americans About the Dangers of Imported Drugs

March 6, 2019

It isn’t just policymakers who believe drug importation will open the U.S. drug supply to counterfeits. In this editorial, published in the Times of Northwest Indiana on March 6, 2019, HIV-positive advocate Brandon Macsata explains that his own physician objected to ordering medicine from Canadian online pharmacies:

“It never crossed my mind that I might have been taking counterfeit medicine, or that the medicines meant to control my HIV could be compromising my immune system. So when my doctor found out, she told me to stop immediately. She warned me that online pharmacies often sell counterfeit drugs.”

Canadian And American Pharmacists Associations Jointly Warn Against Drug Importation Policies

February 28, 2019

The Canadian Pharmacists Association (CPhA) and the American Pharmacists Association (APhA) have issued a joint statement in opposition to U.S. federal legislation authorizing personal and commercial importation of prescription drugs from Canada.

“While we recognize the desire to address affordability issues in the U.S.,” they write, “we strongly oppose the importation of prescription drugs from Canada because of the risks these policies pose to patient safety and
continuity of care.”

Drug importation will “jeopardize the health and well-being of millions of Americans,” Pacific Research Institute CEO warns

February 7, 2019

In this editorial, which was published in The Des Moines Register on February 7, 2019, Pacific Research Institute CEO Sally Pipes explains why drug importation is not the right way to lower costs.

A Colorado Woman Was Seriously Ill. No One Suspected Her Imported Drugs.

February 5, 2019

In this February 4th, 2019 editorial for Colorado Politics, Denver resident Ali Schroer warns, “I experienced firsthand the dangers of counterfeit, imported drugs, and was critically ill for months as we sought to uncover the source of my illness.”

Importation is “extremely dangerous idea,” says former FBI Director Freeh

January 31, 2019

In this editorial, which first appeared in The Washington Times on January 29, 2019, former FBI Director Louis J. Freeh revisits the problem drug importation poses to law enforcement and regulatory systems already overburdened by the opioid crisis.

National Association of Manufacturers Exec warns, “Importation Proposals Disguise Serious Risks”

January 31, 2019

In this January 30, 2019 editorial, which was published in the National Association of Manufacturer’s Shopfloor blog, Vice President of Infrastructure Robyn Boerstling warns that even though legislators have good intentions, importation could “result in disastrous outcomes.”