Confusing Price With Safety
We all try to do our best, but even those in public service don't always get it right. This seems to be the case when it comes to drug importation. Supporters think that simply because drugs are purchased from "safe" countries as Canada and Britain, they are actually made there and are subject to strict health regulations and oversight. But this is a dangerous misconception.
Take Canada—if drugs are not earmarked for Canadian citizens, they are not subject to the Canadian government's safety regulations. If the goods are "for export only," Canada becomes a post-office box for fake or low-quality drugs from China, India, and other countries notorious for their ineffective and lethal products.
Importing from Britain isn't any safer. Over the past year, Britain's equivalent of the FDA issued half a dozen drug recalls after fake drugs infiltrated its legitimate supply chain. The European Union has identified fake drugs as a critical issue that must be addressed after reports indicated 2.7 million counterfeits detected there in one year.
In addition, the use of the Internet to purchase these drugs is a prescription for disaster. Major regulatory authorities in this country, the E.U., as well as the World Health Organization warn that 50% or more of the products obtained from these sources are fake.
The United States has one of the safest drug supplies in the world because our pharmaceutical supply system is "closed" to importation. Anytime we venture outside of our current closed system, the risk to our health and welfare is real.
The bottom-line is drug importation programs, including the one the Honolulu Star Bulletin endorses, encourage Americans to gamble with their health. Instead of policymakers forcing patients to politically expedient solutions like importation—a policy whose risk of failure will be on the shoulders of vulnerable patient populations such as minorities, seniors, and fixed income patients—policymakers should be focusing on creating programs that provide access to safe medicines. Less expensive does not equal safer. Mandatory low cost/no cost drug programs for brand name and generic companies are a first step for patients up to 400% of poverty. Outreach programs based on these access initiatives to enroll those eligible into public insurance should be created.
In the interim, there are ways of reducing drug costs that don't risk the patients’ health by relying on an Internet seller. Visit SafeMedicines.org to learn about safe ways to get cheaper medicines. Counterfeit drugs are unsafe at any cost.