Editorials

Colorado’s Canadian drug importation plan won’t be safe and also won’t save money

December 14, 2022

Colorado submitted its application to the FDA to import medicine from Canada on December 5. Like other Canadian importation plans, this one isn’t safe and it’s unlikely to save money.

Former FDA Associate Commissioner Warns of the “Massive Safety Risks of Importation”

March 3, 2020

This editorial by Peter J. Pitts was published in The Times Weekly on March 3, 2020. Mr. Pitts is president of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest and a former FDA associate commissioner. Keep Canadian drugs out of U.S. medicine cabinets The Trump administration recently proposed two rules that would allow states, pharmacies, and drug wholesalers to import non-FDA approved medicines from Canada. No administration, Republican or Democrat, has ever allowed Canadian drug importation – and for good reason. First, experts agree that such a scheme wouldn’t reduce by one penny the co-pay of a single American. Second,…

News Outlet Truth Test Confirms Dangers of Florida’s Importation Legislation in PSM Ad

April 29, 2019

We recently ran an ad in Florida about the dangers of attempting to import medicine from Canada, and the risk of getting medicine from other countries like China where much of the world’s counterfeits come from. WESH 2 News serving Orlando put the ad through their exclusive Truth Test on April 25, 2019, and the claims in the ad rang true. The truth test found that, “Right now, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services refuses to allow Canadian drug imports, yet many Americans order them online, thinking they’re made in Canada. They’re not.” They went on to investigate where the…

Congress Passes Opioid Epidemic Legislative Package

October 17, 2018

The Partnership for Safe Medicines applauds the passage of the SUPPORT Act, an $8 billion package which will help develop non-addictive painkillers, improve prescription drug monitoring programs, establish comprehensive opioid recovery centers, and strengthen Customs and Border Protection’s ability to intercept fentanyl that is illegally shipped into the United States.

Drug Importation is Fraught with Peril

August 23, 2018

As a licensed pharmacist, I’m all too familiar with patients’ difficulties getting medications they need and their physician has prescribed. As baby boomers age, pharmacists see more patients at our counters unable to obtain needed treatments for heart disease, high blood pressure, diabetes, and other chronic illnesses. This issue is now being acknowledged and a healthy debate has begun over possible solutions. But one idea policymakers shouldn’t pursue is opening up our country’s secure drug supply to medicines coming from outside our borders.