by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | Jan 7, 2021 | Politics and policy
This week the prices of over 500 drugs went up in America, according to drug price transparency non-profit organization 46Brooklyn. This happens every year, usually coinciding with shouts of anger and disgust with the pharmaceutical industry’s greed. The shouts are muted this year, probably because, like it or not, we’re counting on Big Pharma to manufacture enough Covid-19 vaccines to end the pandemic. But the battle against high drug prices continues. Godspeed.
The median price increase reported was 4.6%, slightly lower than last year’s increase but about eight times the estimated inflation rate for 2020 of 0.62%. If you’re thinking I’m going to start talking about importing drugs from Canada now, you’re wrong – as helpful as that remains for Americans who go that route individually. [There’s an importation surprise at the end of this post for you, however.]
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by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | Dec 30, 2020 | Drug Importation
Here’s a kind of funny story to end the year with. I make a big deal on these pages about the decriminalized reality of personal drug importation. Federal law prohibits under most circumstances importing prescription drugs for your own use, but people are never busted for it. I’ve been around this a long time and I mean never. But that’s for personal use only. Recently, 20 U.S. air marshals in Dallas, Texas were disciplined for “smuggling” Viagra into the United States. They bought it at lower prices outside the U.S., brought it back, and gave it to their colleagues or sold it for a “small profit,” as reported in Yahoo News. So, are they in any real trouble?
It appears the answer is not really—at least not yet. The names of the air marshals are not public because they have not been charged with a crime. Some were suspended for a few days. One resigned. No one was terminated. However, two may be terminated based on “evidence uncovered during the investigation.” I would guess that those two were dabbling in the resale of stronger pharmaceuticals.
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by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | Dec 23, 2020 | Public Health
With some stops and starts, this blog has become far more focused on policy, regulatory matters, law and politics — and less on everyday consumer issues relating to drug prices. With Christmas upon us, I want to extoll PharmacyChecker.com’s simple core mission: make it easier for Americans to pay for their prescription drugs. Ask PharmacyChecker, the consumer journalistic section of PharmacyChecker, has a great piece up today called The Gift of Low Drug Prices. It speaks volumes about that mission.
Merry Christmas, America.
