by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | Jun 9, 2016 | Advocacy, FDA, Personal Drug Importation
I’m pleased to announce that the Prescription Justice Action Group (PJAG) has a new and improved website; and for those of you that follow PharmacyChecker.com’s advocacy efforts on these blog pages I believe you’ll like it! The site just looks a lot better, it’s easier to use and therefore more helpful.
As a reminder, last November we announced the formation of PJAG, a non-profit organization dedicated to defending Americans if the FDA refuses and threatens to destroy their personal drug imports and advocating for policies to lower domestic drug prices. The motivation to start PJAG was the passage of legislation back in 2012 giving new, potentially harmful regulatory powers to the FDA. Often referred to as Section 708, the law allows FDA to more easily destroy personally imported medication. The new rules went into effect on October 15th of 2015.
FDA may be seizing medications in larger numbers ordered from rogue online pharmacies but to date they have not greatly increased refusals of medication ordered internationally from PharmacyChecker-approved online pharmacies. I write “greatly” because I’ve heard that there have been some increases. Historically, over 99% of prescription drug imports ordered from international online pharmacies that require a prescription have reached the patient.
PJAG’s website provides guidance to show consumers how to submit a letter to the FDA to defend a medication they have ordered from an international pharmacy, if they get a letter that it’s being held by the FDA and subject to destruction. It’s not easy and it takes patience but following PJAGs guidance could be helpful: at a maximum to get your medication back in the unlikely event it’s taken, and at minimum to send a message to the FDA that they took medication from you and now you can’t afford it. PJAG blogs that it’s working to create a web form portal to make the submission process easier. We’ll report back when that’s up and running.
We also support the grassroots consumer advocacy efforts of RxRights and hope that you sign-on to its ongoing, multiple campaigns to contact your elected leaders about the high cost of medication.
Tagged with: 708, pjag, Prescription Justice Action Group, RxRights
by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | Nov 4, 2014 | Advocacy, Drug Prices, Politics
No matter how you vote today, or which party you like (if one at all), you may have ended up on this blog because you’re tired of high drug prices or struggling to afford medications you need. PharmacyChecker.com advocates for maximizing consumer-access to the lowest cost, safe and effective medications. We believe that it’s completely unacceptable and unnecessary for tens of millions of Americans to skip filling prescriptions each year because of cost. High drug prices in America are a public health crisis.
Access to affordable medication is a global public health priority and many people view it as a human right. According to the World Health Organization, ten million deaths could be prevented globally by improving access to safe and affordable medication. We strongly believe that much more can and should be done at the global level to help citizens of developing countries obtain life-saving medicines.
Our advocacy focus is – not surprisingly – “online access” to lower-cost medications, which requires an open and free Internet through which consumers can buy medication from safe international online pharmacies. We are a member of the RxRights.org coalition, which focusses on safe personal drug importation through verified international online pharmacies. We strongly encourage you to join them. They have a following of almost 85,000 Americans. Joining is free and for those of you activist-types it could be fun.
There are multinational pharmaceutical corporate forces aligned with willing politicians who accept their campaign contributions to prevent you from obtaining safe lower cost medications from outside the U.S. Pushing back and promoting online access to safe and affordable medication is not a liberal or conservative effort. It’s a big tent, non-partisan issue that draws consumers from all sides of the political fence who are tired of having to pay the world’s highest drug prices.
So, as long as you’re done voting, take this time to check out RxRights and stand up for more affordable medications!
Tagged with: advocate, election day 2014, RxRights
by Gabriel Levitt, President, PharmacyChecker.com and Prescription Justice | Jul 2, 2014 | Advocacy, Personal Drug Importation, Politics
As we approach July 4th, a day to celebrate freedom in America, I urge you to stand up for your freedom to access safe and affordable medication!! Let’s face it: the global drug companies – big Pharma – would rather you pay higher prices for their medications because it makes them more money. In its infinite pandering to big Pharma, Congress included language in the Food and Drug Administration Safety and Innovation Act of 2012 (FDASIA) – an otherwise pretty useful drug safety bill – expanding the authority of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to destroy safe, personally imported medications. In the spirit of independence – life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness – take this time to send a message to the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) asking that she take the necessary actions to protect your prescription drug orders, ones ordered from safe international online pharmacies.
Thanks to RxRights.org for leading the charge on this effort!
The onerous language under discussion is found in Section 708 of FDASIA, which allows the FDA to destroy medication orders valued at $2500 or less that are refused import. The medications subject to refusal and destruction are those deemed “adulterated, misbranded or counterfeit.” Those words seem pretty scary but don’t be fooled. Unlike an adulterated or counterfeit drug, an imported ‘misbranded’ drug can be the same, safe and effective medication sold in a U.S. pharmacy but with a slightly different label. Seizing and destroying a person’s safe prescription drug order is immoral, anti-American, and dangerous to that person’s health.
There’s a catch in the law, which actually invokes the Spirit of 1776. Before Section 708 goes into effect, the HHS Secretary shall draft proposed regulations to provide consumers with due process to “challenge the decision to destroy the drug.” That means Americans should have an opportunity when their medication orders are seized to tell the government “don’t destroy my safe prescription drug order.” As the agency under HHS tasked with regulating the nation’s drug supply, it’s the FDA that leads the government in this process. FDA’s proposed regulations, which are open for public comment, were drafted and published in early May. While they fail to provide what the law requires – “appropriate due process” – I believe they leave the door open to amend what they have proposed. This weekend I’ll be working to submit PharmacyChecker.com’s public comments to try and assist (persuade?) the FDA to issue a more consumer-friendly final regulation that protects your access to safe and affordable imported medication.
I invoke the spirits of our Founding Fathers to guide us in this fight for independence from the tyranny of high drug prices.
Happy Fourth of July!
Tagged with: Due Process, Regulations, RxRights, Section 708
