Getting some prescription justice
This week, the group Prescription Justice sent a letter to Congress (House and Senate) signed by prominent non-profit activist and policy organizations – and PharmacyChecker.com (we were the only company!) – that clearly recognizes the lifeline of personal drug importation and the role that safe international online pharmacies play. The focus of the letter is support for the Affordable and Safe Prescription Drug Importation Act of 2017, which would help expand lawful options for importing lower cost medication, through retail and wholesale commerce. I wrote about this drug importation legislation a couple of months ago.
Too frequently I read articles in support or against drug importation that both drive me nuts. You’d think that I love the former and hate the latter but that’s not the case. I’m often equally annoyed when the authors either don’t know or care to write about the reality of prescription drug importation where people just go online, order their medication from Canada or another country, send in their valid prescriptions and get it by mail. As the letter iterates:
“Despite the federal restrictions, millions of Americans already import life-saving medications for their own use. While this practice can be done safely through properly credentialed international online pharmacies, it poses a real danger to patient safety because of rogue Internet drug sellers.”
And that’s why PharmacyChecker.com does what we do: verify and identify the safest international online options, educate and warn about rogue pharmacies, and get vocal about it. While the drug companies are obscenely powerful and are spending through the teeth to create anti-importation op-eds and reports, and giving members of Congress lots of money, the truth is a pretty powerful adversary as well. And importing medication from a licensed pharmacy in Canada (and many other countries) is, in the real world of facts, safe.
The letter also states: “Preventing Americans from buying affordable medication is clearly the wrong thing to do, which is why individuals are not prosecuted for small personal use quantity imports.” Amen to that. At least 1/3 of this blog has become documenting the shenanigans launched by drug companies’ efforts and lobbying to curtail current options to afford medication internationally. A swell of support for commonsense and compassion is growing.
The coalition (to be far more candid than necessary) that signed this letter probably does not believe that importation or online pharmacies are the solution; they just believe that making the safest importation lawful is viewed as a baby step to much bigger policy changes. Those changes would make medication prices lower here at home – potentially making PharmacyChecker.com’s information less important to Americans. Que sera, sera.
The groups that signed the letter are listed below:
Alliance for Retired Americans
Economic Policy Institute Policy Center
National Organization for Women
