Importation
May 20, 2020 video: Maine Importation Update
Maine submitted a state importation plan to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) recently to meet its own May 1, 2020 deadline. Given the deep structural flaws in both the idea of importing medicine from Canada and in Maine’s application to do so, PSM wonders if there is a better use of Maine taxpayer dollars than to continue to pursue this idea.
[...]Research Study Confirms That Cheap And Safe Drug Importation Is Not Feasible
The Journal of Pharmaceutical Health Services Research, an official journal of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society, published a research paper by Dr. Kristina M.L. Acri née Lybecker titled “State Pharmaceutical Importation Programmes: An Analysis of the Cost-effectiveness.” In the research paper, Dr. Acri analyzed 24 prescription drugs, comparing the presumed cost savings of state-sponsored drug importation…
[...]Freedom Of Access Act Response From The State of Maine
In June 2019, the governor of Maine signed into law LD 1272, a bill that would allow the state to establish a wholesale Canadian prescription drug importation program. On April 13, 2020, the Partnership for Safe Medicines (PSM) filed a request to receive copies of all submitted responses to Maine’s Request for Comment (RFC) for…
[...]How Many Tests Need to Be Performed to Know That a Batch of Pills is Safe?
Testing medicine for legitimacy is a complicated process. Across 24 different prescription medicines, the average cost to test a single dose is $2,750. However, ensuring that a batch of 100 pills is 90% certain to be safe requires testing at least 22 pills. Achieving 99.999% certainty requires even more testing, at tremendous expense. To learn more about this topic, read “State Pharmaceutical Importation Programs: An Analysis of the Cost Effectiveness,” by Dr. Kristina Acri nee Lybecker at https://safedr.ug/DrAcri.
[...]Eight Surprising Things We Learned from Reading the 1,200 Comments Filed with the FDA on Canadian Drug Importation
For 78 days, the Department of Health and Human Services accepted public comment on the proposed rulemaking that would allow states to establish drug importation programs, individuals and organizations submitted 1,210 comments, and PSM read each of them. Here are what we feel are the most important takeaways…
[...]Executive Director of Colon Cancer Association Warns Against “Ill-Considered Drug Importation Scheme”
This editorial by Andrew Spiegel was published in The International Business Times on March 23, 2020. Mr. Spiegel is executive director of the Global Colon Cancer Association and Chair of the World Patient Alliance. President Trump, Price Controls Can’t Combat Coronavirus The U.S. outbreak of novel coronavirus, COVID-19, has quickly evolved into a national nightmare.…
[...]HHS comments come in overwhelmingly against Canadian drug importation proposal
Yesterday ended a 78-day comment period for the White House’s proposal to import medicine from Canada. In all, over 1,000 comments were filed. Overwhelmingly, these comments opposed the proposed rule or expressed skepticism that the rule could meet the two requirements listed in the Medicare Modernization Act of 2003: be safe and save consumers money. In fact, when you read the comments, it is clear that this policy is overwhelming opposed by experts on the issues of economics and medicine safety.
[...]Delaware Legislative Group Says Importation only “seems good until one understands the details.”
In January, the Delaware’s Interagency Pharmaceuticals Purchasing Study Group opined that that importation was not a viable strategy to lower prescription drug prices.
[...]Canadian drug importation is “an economic fantasy,” former Canadian health minister says.
In this editorial in The Globe and Mail, Ujjal Dosanjh, formerly a federal minister of health and a premier of British Columbia, explains that drug manufacturers have no incentive to sell Canadian provinces more medicine to fill the needs of U.S. residents. Importation will lead to drug shortages in Canada and counterfeit drug trafficking to the U.S.
[...]FDA Worked With Indian Government To Seize 500 Counterfeit Drug Shipments in January
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has just announced a successful joint operation with the Government of India targeting counterfeit prescription drugs, counterfeit over-the-counter medications, fake medical devices, and misbranded dietary supplements containing harmful ingredients.
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