by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | Mar 6, 2020 | Politics and policy
The window for public comments on the FDA’s
notice on proposed rulemaking about drug importation under Section 804 of
the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act is closing on Monday March 9th – and I’m not
done writing! So, this post will be short and sweet but highly relevant. Of
course, lower drug prices in foreign countries are on my mind today – as they
often are. And they were also on the minds of the truth-sleuth masters over at
Politifact yesterday. The title gives away the answer already so go take a look
at how Politifact
checks out U.S. Rep. Gwen Moore’s (D-WI) statement: “Prescription drug
companies are charging Americans prices that are on average 4x higher than
what’s charged in other countries.” Or read on for the super quick explanation.
(more…)Tagged with: Congressional House Ways and Means Committee, Rep. Gwen Moore
by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | Feb 28, 2020 | Online Pharmacies
Yesterday, I was asked by Ed Silverman of STAT NEWS’ Pharmalot
for my thoughts about a report by the Office of Inspector General, Department
of Health and Human Services (OIG). The report is an audit of companies in the
drug supply chain to test compliance with regulations called for by the Drug
Supply Chain Security Act of 2013 (DSCSA). In short, as reported
in STAT, OIG found that seven out of 44 drugs audited could not be traced
back to the manufacturer in the manner required under the DSCSA. Add to that,
the physical locations of 21 drugs could not be determined. Since most drugs
subject to DSCSA are made overseas and imported, Mr. Silverman wanted to know
if this audit impacted drug importation proposals and plans in the works to
lower drug prices. The answer is probably no. The report appears to be a
worthwhile effort to test compliance with DSCSA. However, use of the word
“legitimate” is found in the DSCSA, and that word is often misused by opponents
of drug importation and international online pharmacies – and that got me
thinking. I’m sick of that word.
(more…)Tagged with: ed silverman, Eliquis, LegitScript, NABP, OIG
by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | Feb 21, 2020 | Drug Importation
On behalf of Prescription Justice, I submitted comments to
the FDA in response to its request for public comments on its draft guidance
called: “Importation
of Certain FDA-Approved Human Prescription Drugs, Including Biological
Products, under Section 801(d)(1)(B) of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic
Act: Draft Guidance for Industry.”
I published the comments in their entirety on Prescription
Justice here: https://prescriptionjustice.org/resources/blog/opportunities-safe-personal-drug-importation-under-section-801-public-comments-prescription-justice.
I have a different story to tell here about the new, or
newish reimportation law.
(more…)Tagged with: reimportation
by Lucia Mueller, President, PharmacyChecker.com | Feb 14, 2020 | Drug Prices, Generic drugs
When you lose count of how many folks have the same suspicion about a prescription medication, action is compulsory. Joe and Teresa Graedon, founders of The People’s Pharmacy, not only have an admirable track record of telling health consumers how it is, but also listening to those in their readership. Years ago, they took on the Food and Drug Administration in regards to Budeprion XL distributed by Teva Pharmaceuticals, the supposed generic equivalent to the popular antidepressant, Wellbutrin XL. Many readers complained that it just wasn’t cutting it compared to the brand name version. In fact, many people reported that when they were switched to the Teva generic Wellbutrin XL, their depression returned.
(more…)
by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | Feb 7, 2020 | Drug Safety
When you go to your local CVS and Walgreens – and other big
pharmacy chains – are you getting the highest standard of care? Or do they care
more about the billions of dollars in profits they make each year and how to
increase those profits? Have these pharmacies gone rogue? Millions of
medication errors have caused illness and death in America – and this problem
has recently come into greater focus as pharmacists increasingly blow
the whistle on their employers.
Yet the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP)
doesn’t seem to be paying much attention to medication errors at U.S.
pharmacies. Instead, they choose to spend their time “educating” the public
about the dangers of prescription drug importation, warning Americans that it’s
not safe to buy lower-cost medicines from other countries over the Internet.
They have even included PharmacyChecker.com and this very blog (!) on a list of
over 12,000 “Not Recommended Sites” – websites that they have categorized as
safety threats from importation that put people and their families at risk. We
have sued them for defamation and antitrust violations.
Here’s proof that the NABP are paying relatively little
attention to medication errors compared to internet pharmacies. On the NABP’s
website, under the category of Medication
Errors, you’ll see seven posts and nothing since 2015. Under the
category Internet
Pharmacies, you’ll find 122 posts.
(more…)Tagged with: National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP)
by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | Jan 30, 2020 | Politics and policy
Martin Shkreli, who became famous overnight back
in 2015 for raising the price of Daraprim 5000%, is back in the headlines. Tagged
the “pharma bro” for the cavalier attitude he fronted about his greed, Martin
is actually currently behind bars. No, not for raising a drug price – otherwise
the jails would overflow with pharma execs – but for financial fraud related to
his work as hedge fund manager.
That’s old
news.
Now, years later, Shkreli, the company Vyera Pharmaceuticals
(formerly Turing Pharmaceuticals) and his colleague, Kevin Mulleady, are being
charged by the Federal Trade Commission and NY State Attorney General Letitia
James. With what? Pasted from the AG’s press
release:
(more…)Tagged with: Martin Shkreli
