Importing Prescription Drugs is Dangerous Business… and Illegal
By Teresa Ambord
If prescription drug costs are forcing you to look for alternatives, be careful. Many older Americans are turning to Canada and Mexico to get lower prices on their medications, online, through mail order, through storefront pharmacies, or by joining busloads of people driving over the borders to bring back large quantities of their medications.
While these may seem like good options, you could be asking for trouble. Not only is illegal to import prescription drugs from outside the country, it’s dangerous. (Though so far, the Food & Drug Administration (FDA) has focused its efforts on the commercial trade rather than individuals.)
Since the late 90s, importation of counterfeit drugs has been running out of control. The FDA, which was formed partly to prevent unsafe drugs from coming into the country is under increasing attack, even from some members of Congress who say fears surrounding imported or re-imported drugs are overblown. Though Congress is continually looking into the possibility of making this practice legal, there is still much conflict, based on real problems.
In recent years, the FDA has intercepted shipments of drugs into the country. The purchasers believed they were buying drugs made or re-imported from Canada. But investigation showed the drugs were actually from other countries, such as Jamaica. The FDA cannot vouch for the safety of drugs brought in from other countries. A representative from the FDA testified before Congress that some intercepted shipments of pills were made with sugar, rather than the drugs they were supposed to contain. Other intercepted shipments had expiration dates of 1980.
Do you take Ambien, Lipitor, or Viagra?
Shipments of these common drugs from Canada were tested for potency. All of them did contain the specified drug, but none in the potency they were labeled with. Viagra and Lipitor were significantly below the dosage potency, while Ambien was 140 percent of the dosage. Click on this link to see a chart depicting the FDA findings:
The FDA has also tested drugs being sold to Americans at Mexican border town pharmacies and found them to be bad. One is a counterfeit of the cholesterol lowering drug Zocor (also called simvastatin) The counterfeit version does not even contain the active ingredient in real Zocor. Patients taking this counterfeit could suffer serious health consequences. Another drug purchased there was Carisoprodol, a prescription strength pain reliever. The counterfeit contained an inferior potency, which would have provided insufficient pain relief to the user. Read more about the FDAs report by clicking here:
An Alternative to Importing
Here is a legal, safe way to save money on drugs. It’s called pill splitting. Ask your doctor about getting a pill with a larger dose of your medication, say 60 grams instead of 30, and split the pill in half. Drug manufacturers charge the same price for both sizes, so effectively you can save half the cost.
Some insurance private health plans are now requiring their patients to do this, though there are some risks. Don’t split pills without consulting your doctor. Some pills don’t absorb properly if split. And some patients may not split the pills directly in half, causing dosage variation.
Many people believe it is politics that keeps drug importation illegal. But both President Bush and President Clinton refused to let this potentially dangerous practice become legal. Each president stated clearly that we cannot ensure the safety and integrity of drugs entering the country from outside.
Vocal supporters of drug importation overlook the key reason why prescription drugs are so high in the United States. Our drug manufacturers are the ones pouring enormous amounts of money into research and development (R&D) to bring new life saving, life-improving drugs to the market. If they are to continue to develop new drugs and perform the required clinical tests to gain FDA approval, they must be able to recoup the costs in their pricing policies. Few other countries are developing new drugs, instead relying on the United States. They are able to bypass the R&D that has already been done by our drug companies, and produce cheaper drugs, then sell them back to us illegally.
