The ongoing federal government crackdown on U.S. pharmacy sales of narcotic prescription medications, most notably against Walgreens in Florida, serves to remind us that prescription drug abuse is a major health problem. But only a tiny fraction of illegal prescription narcotic sales take place online, less than 1% according to Agent Robert Hill of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (.4% to be exact).
The DEA seeks to shutdown a major Walgreen’s distribution center in Jupiter, Florida. As part of its investigation of Walgreens, the DEA found that one of its pharmacies was supplied 3271 bottles of oxycodone, a highly abused narcotic, during a 40-day period in a town with less than 3000 people. It appears that Walgreens knew about supply abuses but did not heed the warnings until confronted by DEA. One email obtained during the investigation shows an employee confused about how the receiving pharmacy could “even house this many bottles.”
The prescription drug abuse crisis in the United States is a domestic not international or “foreign pharmacy” distribution problem. In fact, reputable international online pharmacies, based in Canada or elsewhere, do not sell controlled substances to Americans. When it comes to the Internet, Americans should use extreme caution if ordering controlled substances online by only ordering from licensed U.S. pharmacies with the proper DEA registration and in compliance with the Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act.
In its July 2011 Progress Report, the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP) continues to do a disservice to Americans by classifying safe pharmacies in other countries as “rogue.” Out of the 8,000 sites “Not Recommended” by NABP, PharmacyChecker.com research shows 53 are safe international online pharmacies.
It is laudable and helpful to Americans when the NABP exposes truly rogue pharmacies, i.e., those that sell Americans fake drugs or even real drugs but without a prescription. However, the NABP has chosen, year after year, to lump in with these rogues, any pharmacy that is not based in the United States.
How can the NABP do this? Unfortunately, U.S. law says it is, under most circumstances, illegal for Americans to get their medicine from Canada or other countries. So NABP freely uses terms like “rogue,” “illicit,” and “illegal” when describing any foreign pharmacy. We see no reason to mislead the public into thinking that safe foreign pharmacies pose a danger and belong in the same group as rogue pharmacies. (more…)
Our first point is that there is inaccurate information provided for consumers on the FDA’s website relating to online pharmacies and drug safety. Consumers are misled to believe that any pharmacy not located in the United States is dangerous, or non-reputable, while experience and studies show that properly verified international online pharmacies are safe. Additionally, the FDA’s website communicates that only FDA-approved drugs are checked for safety and effectiveness, a claim for which there is no basis. In fact, some so-called “non FDA-approved” drugs are the exact same drugs made by Pfizer or Merck, for example, just labeled or colored differently.
We then recommend revisions to Section 9.2 of the FDA Regulatory Procedures Manual Imports and Exports, which guides FDA practices in enforcing our drug importation laws. We recommend that FDA’s personal drug importation policy explicitly disallow government officials from seizing personally imported prescription orders destined for Americans that they know are genuine and dispensed pursuant to a prescription. The ethical and economic basis for our recommendation is that prescription non-adherence (not taking your meds) often furthers illness, leading to more emergency room visits, costing the nation hundreds of billions in healthcare dollars.
Finally, we ask that the FDA ban enforcement actions against foreign companies that are known to operate safe international mail-order pharmacies. Studies show that cost is the number one reason that Americans do not take their medications, and cutting off access to these safe and affordable pharmacies means fewer Americans will take their prescribed medicines.
Welcome to PharmacyChecker Blog, brought to you by PharmacyChecker.com:
A source for news and analysis about drug prices and safety, online pharmacies and personal drug importation, published on behalf of American consumers.
