Between a Rock and Hard Place
There's no question that prescription drugs save lives, relieve suffering, and promote the quality of life for those with access to them. There's also no question that, to be helped by these drugs, patients have to be able to afford drugs that are safe and effective.
Unfortunately, current public policy puts patients in a Catch 22 by not effectively addressing either the issues of safe drug availability or affordability. Policymakers focused on drug prices fail to address safety and, on the other hand, those focused on safety fail to address high prices.
According to a recent GAO report and hearings we've talked about in this blog, the FDA isn't able to address the vulnerabilities that allow counterfeits and diverted drugs to enter into the supply chain. Technology focuses on tracking the cardboard packaging of our medicines, not the product. And patients who cannot afford legitimate drugs are increasingly being driven to questionable and unsafe medication sources that expose them to the dangers of counterfeits.
The combination of high prices and limited protections makes the U.S. an attractive market to counterfeiters who can produce fakes at virtually no cost and little risk of being held accountable. This results in huge profits compared to other activities available to the counterfeiter with virtually no chance of being caught.
With growing incidents of counterfeit drugs making their way into the worldwide drug distribution and increasing access to the anonymous and unregulated world of Internet pharmacies, what can be done to help patients avoid being in between a rock and a hard place when it comes to their health?
Some ideas I have include:
creating a low cost/no cost drug program that segregates needy patients from private markets, with participation by both brand name and generic companies;
identification and registration of legitimate drug wholesalers;
banning Internet drug sales unless pharmacies are accredited by the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy;
prohibiting drug importation;
directing the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to create aggressive public and provider education on counterfeit drugs;
and,
significantly increase increasing penalties for counterfeiters to fit the crime of cheating the hopes of the sick and vulnerable.
We have a ways to go before we get to these solutions because we need policymakers to think about both price and authenticity when they think of access. But I hope that as more people become aware of our vulnerabilities, the more they'll want policymakers to do something
about it.
In the meantime, consumers can protect themselves and their families by
Subscribing to the Partnership for Safe Medicines free email alerts. (Link here)
Downloading our simple SAFEDRUG guide. (Link here)
If you have to buy drugs online, buying them only from verified online pharmacies. (Link here)
Click here and sign up for the SafeMeds email alerts of government counterfeit drug warnings. We'll talk about other tools in future discussions.