Major Threats to U.S. Drug Supply, But Online Pharmacies Not Among Them According to Pew Report
Last week the Pew Charitable Trusts program on drug safety released its final White Paper about the major threats to the U.S. drug supply, called After Heparin: Protecting Consumers from the Risks of Substandard and Counterfeit Drugs. Online pharmacies are not among the major threats, according to Pew. Rather, the globalization of drug manufacturing and Byzantine domestic pharmaceutical distribution processes are the crux of the problem.
According to Pew, a major threat to the U.S. drug supply comes from importing active pharmaceutical ingredients and finished prescription drug products from facilities that have not been inspected by the FDA and on which we otherwise have too little information. The other major threat is attributed to the complicated nature of our domestic drug distribution system, in which literally thousands of wholesalers buy and sell prescription medication in a domestic grey market marred by loose and inconsistent regulations, state and federal.
It’s clear that Pew does not view international online pharmacies as a major threat to the U.S. drug supply, but they did make a few points of caution. The report reads:
Online pharmacies are another way that problematic products can make their way into the United States. While not examined in depth in this paper, there is no doubt that by indiscriminately purchasing drugs from online sources, consumers expose themselves to a large safety risk. While many legitimate online pharmacies exist, there have also been documented sales of counterfeit, diverted, misbranded or adulterated medicine through online pharmacies. (more…)
