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.
by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | Dec 10, 2020 | Public Health
Today is Human Rights Day, a day commemorating the United Nations’ 1948 adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). Three years after World War II ended, in the wake of genocide, unprecedented military, deadly armed conflict, and mass deprivation on a global scale, the UN declared that all people in the world have rights that defend the dignity of humankind. Freedom of religion, speech, the right to assemble and own property, protection from discrimination or persecution are all central to human rights. Everyone has these rights “without distinction of any kind, such as race, colour, sex, language, religion, political or other opinion, national or social origin, property, birth or other status.”
These rights are applicable to Americans who can’t afford prescription drugs domestically because the prices are too high. Human rights include access to safe and affordable medicines, such as through importation of a more affordable drug ordered over the Internet.
(more…)Tagged with: brussels principles, human rights
by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | Nov 25, 2020 | Public Health
In Thanksgiving seasons past, I have written posts connecting the problems of high drug prices and hunger in America. Where people and households are struggling to afford food, there’s a greater likelihood that they are forgoing needed medical treatments, including prescription drugs. The problem is far worse for people with chronic medical conditions. This may seem intuitive and obvious, but for those wanting some academic research to chew on, take a look at this from The American Journal of Medicine:
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by Lucia Mueller, President, PharmacyChecker.com | Nov 10, 2017 | Public Health
November 11th is a day spent honoring brave Americans that made the ultimate sacrifice—serving our country in the United States Armed Forces. The bravery of these men and women is truly unparalleled, and it is for this very reason that a long history of Big Pharma taking advantage of the quite literal pain of war is nothing short of shameful.
Before 9/11, drug corporations led by Purdue Pharma had developed new pain medications — the opioids that have filled our headlines with news of rampant addiction and death. These drug companies spent big bucks targeting the United States Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), convincing the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that restricting the use of opioids was nonsense. By 2008, the Veterans’ Mental Health and Other Care Improvement Act, which instated pain evaluations for all vets, was drafted. To push the bill, drug company lobbyists launched a “Freedom from Pain” media blitz, enlisting veterans’ organizations to campaign for the bill and get it passed.
That’s not all.
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Tagged with: Big Pharma, opioids, veterans day
by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | May 23, 2017 | Drug Safety, Online Pharmacy Verification Services, Public Health
PharmacyChecker Verification Program Protects Public Health
Americans and consumers worldwide come to PharmacyChecker.com to find pharmacies that will sell them properly dispensed, genuine medication, at a price they can afford.
We take our role very seriously and continually improve and enhance our program to keep up with changes in the marketplace.
For those who are interested, I’m happy to announce today that we have published our latest program documentation that effectively communicates our most current standards, policies and online pharmacy practice guidance on how to meet those standards. In reviewing our protocols, consumers, healthcare providers and advocates, and policy professionals can more fully understand why websites “approved” in the PharmacyChecker Verification Program are the safest international online pharmacies: as safe as U.S. pharmacies, according to peer-reviewed research and medication testing.
You can review our full set of PharmayChecker.com standards for verifying online pharmacies here. Below are some of the key attributes of our program and standards. (more…)
Tagged with: pharmacy safety, standards, verification
by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | May 19, 2017 | Advocacy, Policy, Public Health, Skipping medications
According to a Zogby Poll (see graphic) conducted in February of this year, 31.6% of Americans who said they have never ordered a medication online from another country cited fear of substandard drugs. Another 32.3% cited the law restricting the practice. Most often (44%) people said they preferred to get medication from local pharmacists, which I liked – but I’m aware that for that group affordability was less of an issue.
What bothers me is that out of the 45 million Americans who did not fill a prescription in 2016 due to cost, how many would have been able to if educated properly about safe international online pharmacies or if the law was more permissive? (more…)
Tagged with: scare tactics, zogby
