by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | May 12, 2015 | Advocacy, Government, Online Pharmacies, Policy, Politics
Well, here we go again, another bill that would formally legalize a practice that has been going on for decades: Americans importing meds from Canadian pharmacies, at the very least to cut down on their drug bills, and in some cases even to afford life-saving medicines. Sorry to sound cynical, but I’ve seen these bills before and Big Pharma is always behind their failure – but what about this time?
The bill, H.R. 2228, was introduced by Representative Chellie Pingree (D-ME) barely a week ago and co-sponsored by Dana Rohrabacher (R-CA), and is entitled “Safe and Affordable Drugs from Canada Act of 2015.” It seems to mirror legislation in the Senate, S. 122, introduced by Sens. John McCain (R-NV) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), which has the same title.
The bills are focused on Canadian pharmacies only, not the wider landscape of international online pharmacies, which are often based in Canada: ones that millions of Americans have benefited from for over a decade. If H.R. 2228 passes, the FDA would be required to publish a list of approved Canadian pharmacies from which Americans could legally import, for personal use, non-controlled, non-biologic, and non-temperature sensitive, prescription medications. That would include the majority of maintenance prescription drugs that Americans are currently importing for personal use.
I support this bill 100%. Even though our program is open to safe and licensed pharmacies in other countries, not just ones in Canada and the U.S., the new bill moves the public policy and economic justice needle in the right direction. The practice of international pharmacy began with Americans crossing the border to buy lower cost medications in Canada and then, with the advent of the Internet, buying through mail order. Current law, technically, bans the practice and, unjustly, views it as a criminal act – even though no one has been prosecuted for it. The new bill in the House and Senate would lift the unethical ban on buying lower cost medications for their own use from Canada. Amen and Word Up to that!
So head on over to RxRights.org to contact your elected representatives and let them know you want them to vote for the Safe and Affordable Drugs from Canada Act of 2015!
Tagged with: affordable prescriptions, Big Pharma, Canadian pharmacies, H.R. 2228, House of Representatives, legalizing personal drug importation, personal drug importation, RxRights.org, S.122, Safe and Affordable Drugs from Canada Act of 2015, Senate, United States
by PharmacyChecker.com | May 1, 2015 | Pharmacychecker Online Pharmacy Report
Is it legal to order medications online? Yes. If you live in the U.S., you can legally order medications online for mail order, such as from Walgreens or CVS. Is it legal to order medications from an online pharmacy located in a foreign country – to personally import it? Technically, no; but people who import small quantities of prescription medication for their own use, according to the FDA, are not prosecuted for doing so. There are a lot of nuances and quirky details when it comes to laws and regulations that apply to online pharmacies. Some laws are there to protect your health and safety; others seem more bent on protecting the profits of big drug companies – and there’s a lot in between. It’s complicated.
So this week, in our continuing quest to get the truth out and for our elected leaders in Congress to take bold action to protect online access to safe and affordable medication, we’re publishing the next section of our report called Online Pharmacies, Personal Drug Importation, and Public Health…
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Tagged with: Drug and Cosmetic Act, FDA, FDCA, food, GAO, Internet Drug Outlet Identification Program, legal, NABP, Online Pharmacies, personal drug importation, Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act, VIPPS
by PharmacyChecker.com | Apr 2, 2015 | Pharmacychecker Online Pharmacy Report
Continuing our quest to get the truth out and for our elected leaders in Congress to take bold action to protect online access to safe and affordable medication, we’re publishing a section a week of our report called Online Pharmacies, Personal Drug Importation, and Public Health. Our report refutes a flawed GAO report about Internet pharmacies.
This week we look at the evidence that proves that illegal personal drug importation is not inherently unsafe. First of all, when Americans buy medication from a licensed pharmacy in Canada, India, Turkey, or the UK, the pharmacy itself is legal in those countries: after all its licensed. Unfortunately, it’s technically illegal under most circumstances for a consumer to import meds for their own use from those pharmacies. It’s very common for groups funded by big drug companies to confuse consumers and even lawmakers that this illegality means the practice is inherently not safe, but that’s not true…
Illegal Doesn’t Mean Unsafe
The GAO report misconstrues safety and legality in its analysis of Internet pharmacies. The report states: “By violating federal and state laws, rogue Internet pharmacies threaten the public health.” For about fifteen years, often in violation of federal and state laws, millions of Americans have safely imported medication ordered online, pursuant to a valid prescription for their own use. As evidenced throughout this report, it’s not the violation of federal or state laws that threaten the public health but the actions of rogue pharmacy operators who sell fake or otherwise dangerous medication, or real medication without requiring a prescription.
The facts about personal drug importation are as follows: 1) Through orders placed online, tens of millions of Americans have imported medication from licensed pharmacies that require a prescription over the past 15 years with no reported deaths or serious adverse effects; 2) the practice is technically illegal under most circumstances; 3) there is no evidence that shows personal drug importation of non-controlled medication where a prescription is required is inherently unsafe; 4) according to the FDA, no one has ever been prosecuted for importing small quantities of prescription drugs for personal use.1
If an American receives a drug ordered online that was dispensed and mailed properly from a licensed pharmacy, it makes no difference from a safety perspective whether the product came from a U.S. or foreign licensed pharmacy, as long as the drug has the right amount of the active ingredient, treats the condition as intended, and is administered in the manner intended by the physician who prescribed the drug. Like those sold in U.S. pharmacies, medications ordered from credentialed international online pharmacies are produced in factories employing Good Manufacturing Practices (GMP) and are distributed, stored, dispensed, and mailed properly. The drugs are the same as or foreign versions of those sold in U.S. pharmacies.
1“Should You Use an Overseas Pharmacy,” MoneyTalksNews.com, 2/1/2013. An email written by Christopher Kelly, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, FDA, states: “FDA is not aware of any actions taken against an individual resulting from their purchase of small quantities of unapproved drugs for personal use.” http://www.moneytalksnews.com/2013/02/01/is-it-safe-to-use-an-overseas-pharmacy/, [Last accessed 12/17/2013].
Tagged with: GAO, GMP, personal drug importation, public health, rogue online pharmacies
