by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | Mar 27, 2020 | Drug Safety
This week, the FDA
issued an alert that the EpiPen, a brand name epinephrine injection that should
help someone having a serious allergic reaction, might not work properly. The
problems include delayed injection, failure to inject, and difficulty removing
the product from its container to commence an injection. If this drug fails to
work on a patient who is in anaphylactic shock, the result can be death. In
fact, such product failures were
reported to have killed seven people in 2017 and led to 35
hospitalizations.
Warnings about bad drugs or medical products are often
associated with imports, such as from India or China – or buying drugs online.
But here we have a homegrown problem, which we actually export.
(more…)Tagged with: EpiPen
by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | Mar 20, 2020 | FDA
Americans who have been relying on trips to Canada for cheaper prescription drugs may not be able to do so for about a month, but really who knows how long. As reported in the Washington Post yesterday, to slow the spread of the Coronavirus, President Trump and Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada agreed to close the border yesterday to all but “essential” travel.
SPECIAL NOTE: On this blog I’m sometimes a bit snarky in poking fun at drug companies, drug company-funded groups and the FDA when it comes to their public education information about drug importation and buying drugs online. But let’s face it: we need drug companies and the FDA more than ever right now, and I wish them Godspeed in efforts to find and approve treatments to fight COVID-19. Within that spirit of coming together, I’ll continue to raise the same issues found on this blog.
When the border re-opens, the FDA should immediately, expressly permit personal drug imports from Canada. I’m not talking about “Canadian online pharmacies” or buying on the Internet. I do believe people should be able to do that as well, but my focus for this post is on border crossing prescription drug imports by individuals from Canada.
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by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | Mar 11, 2020 | Drug Importation
Below is a copy of Gabriel Levitt’s comments on the FDA Notice of Proposed Rulemaking titled “Importation of Prescription Drugs” that were submitted Monday, March 9th, 2020.
Comments on Notice of Proposed Rulemaking titled “Importation of Prescription Drugs, FDA-2019-N-5711, 84 Fed. Reg. 70796“
Docket No. FDA-2019-N-5711
Date: March 9,
2020
Submitter: Gabriel Levitt, Co-founder and President,
PharmacyChecker; Founder and President, Prescription Justice
I appreciate the opportunity to comment on this notice of
proposed rulemaking (NPRM). Founded in 2002, and launching its website in 2003,
PharmacyChecker provides consumers with online pharmacy verification and
comparative drug price information to help them make the best decisions for
themselves and their families on how to afford prescription drugs.
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