Immigrants Buying Meds on the Street: A Problem of High Drug Prices and Fears of Deportation
A lot of media coverage about counterfeit drug threats in the U.S. are spurred by the media relations efforts of organizations funded by pharmaceutical companies, such as the Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies and Partnership for Safe Medicines. As I see it, their public education efforts conflate safe online sales of medicines imported by consumers in the U.S. with counterfeit drug sales and other forms of drug sales, ones that clearly harm patients. One such article that did not fall prey to the propaganda was published in Kaiser Health News’ California Healthline detailing street market sales of prescription drugs, including cases that involve counterfeit drugs and the dangers they pose. Journalists who are looking closely, checking the funding of organizations disseminating information about prescription drug importation, can help stop the propaganda of the pharmaceutical industry.
The Kaiser story, written by John M. Glionna, focuses on Latino immigrant communities in which people can’t afford medication or, due to their immigration status, are fearful of deportation if they go to federally-funded clinics for medical treatments. Eight people were arrested and charged with illegal street sales of prescription drugs, including injectables and controlled drugs. Glionna describes the LA County authorities report:
(more…)
