Until we lower drug prices here at home in America, online access
to affordable medication internationally is clearly essential. But what if we
lived in a country where people were no longer able to find safe international
options online?
In an ideal world, search algorithms empower consumers to
find the exact information they are looking for on these search engines. In a
recent Google algorithm update (March 2019), which affected the “natural” or
“organic,” non-paid search results, we wonder if there was foul play involved
in which Google was caving in
to Big Pharma. The Electronic Frontier Foundation identified this problem
in 2016, in “How
Big Pharma’s Shadow Regulation Censors the Internet.”
The results at the very top of your Google search are often ads, which are of course paid placement: a different problem.
Those patients searching on Google for information about affording medicine through online pharmacies were significantly disadvantaged by the Google March 2019 Core Update. The reason is that results for PharmacyChecker ‘s verification and pricing information are now much harder to find than they were on March 11th, 2019— a day before the update.
According to the FDA, in 2017, 80% of the active pharmaceutical ingredients used to make our medicines are imported. I can’t remember how many times I’ve read (and written) that over the past decade or so. Almost every time I read that particular statistic in the news, it’s often a story about drug quality problems, in which foreign APIs are reported as a growing problem. Flashback to the FDA in 1998: as reported by the U.S. Government Accountability Office, the percent of active pharmaceutical ingredients used to make medicines for sale in the U.S. is about 80%.
In March 2019, Anna Edney, from Bloomberg News, wrote an
article called: “Tainted
Pills Force FDA to Tighten Drug-Safety Regulations.” The main focus of the
article is that there are drug quality problems caused by APIs that are not
meeting the required standards.
Yesterday, the Florida House Legislature voted
93-22 passing HB 19. The bill creates programs and processes for importing
prescription drugs from Canada, as well as from other countries. HB 19 actually
calls for the creation of two programs, which I have summarized below. For a
deep dive, you should read the Staff
Analysis from the Florida House of Representatives.
Canadian
Prescription Drug Importation Program (CPDIP)
If HB 19 becomes law, the Florida Agency for Health Care
Administration (AHCA) will create processes that meet the safety protocols
called for in the bill, which include inspections and testing of drugs, to
allow registered wholesale pharmacies to import from Florida-registered
Canadian wholesalers. In this program, lower drug prices will save taxpayers
money for government funded-entities, such as county health departments, free
clinics, and the Department of Corrections.
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A source for news and analysis about drug prices and safety, online pharmacies and personal drug importation, published on behalf of American consumers.
