Drug Importation in Colorado: An Overview
Current status:
In December 2025, Colorado's HCPF submitted an
- Annual report to the Colorado State Assembly
- Amended Section 804 Importation Program Application and Appendices: A - SIP Sponsor; B - Foreign Seller; C - Importer; D - Drug List Data; E - Actuarial Cost Analysis; F - Certification Reports; G - Figure Library; H - FDA Correspondence; and I - Stakeholder Engagement to the FDA.
On March 10, 2025, Colorado submitted an updated Canadian Drug Importation application, revising its February 2024 application to the FDA to import medicine from Canada. Review it here.
Read the 2022 contracts with Colorado's Canadian seller, AdiraMedica (Contract, Amdt #1, Amdt #2) and importer Premier Pharmaceuticals (Contract, Amendment #1, Amendment #2), or their recall supervisor Rocky Mountain Poison and Drug Safety (Contract, Amendment #1). The program has since named AdiraMedica, which has offices in New Jersey as well as Ontario, as both the Canadian seller and the U.S. importer.
How should we evaluate this program?
The program hasn't started yet so there's no way to measure whether it saved money or kept patients safe, both promises made at the time of passage. However, the 2003 Medicare Modernization Act contains requirements for safety requirements built into any such program.
Official actions and statements
- December 4, 2025: Amended SIP Application and Appendices: A - SIP Sponsor; B - Foreign Seller; C - Importer; D - Drug List Data; E - Actuarial Cost Analysis; F - Certification Reports; G - Figure Library; H - FDA Correspondence; and I - Stakeholder Engagement
- December 1, 2025: Annual report to the Colorado State Assembly
- June 2025: PSM, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America and the Council for Affordable Health Coverage submitted a second supplement to their May 2023 Citizen Petition.
- March 2025: Colorado's Drug Importation Program, amended application and amended appendices list, A- SIP Sponsor, B- Foreign Seller, C- Importer, D- Required Data Elements, E- Actuarial Cost Analysis, F- Certification Reports, G- Figure Library, H- FDA Correspondence, I- Stakeholder Engagement.
- December 2024: Annual report to the Colorado State Assembly
- June 2024: PSM, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers
of America and the Council for Affordable Health Coverage submitted a supplement to their May 2023 Citizen Petition. - February 2024: Colorado's Drug Importation Program, amended application and amended appendices, A- SIP Sponsor, B- Foreign Seller, C- Importer, D- Drug List Data, E- Actuarial Cost Analysis, F- Certification Reports, G- Figure Library, H- FDA Correspondence, I- Stakeholder Engagement.
- December 2023: Colorado’s Drug Importation Program, Annual Report to the Colorado General Assembly
- May 2023: PSM, the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers
of America and the Council for Affordable Health Coverage submitted a Citizen Petition (Docket No. FDA-2023-P-1773-0001), asking FDA to refrain from approving the proposal. They submitted supplements in June 2024 and June 2025. - March 2023: The FDA responds to Colorado's Proposal
- December 2022: Colorado submits a final application and appendices to the federal government. The Department of Health Care Policy and Financing publishes its annual report on the project.
- August 2022: Colorado’s Drug Importation Program: Frequently Asked Questions August 2022
- December 2021: Legislative Report from the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing on the implementation of the Prescription Drug Importation Program
- January 2021: The Department of Healthcare Policy and Financing publishes the second edition of Reducing Prescription Drug Costs in Colorado: Cost Drivers and Strategies to Address Them and An Invitation to Negotiate
- October 15, 2020: The Department of Healthcare Policy and Financing updates stakeholders: Slides
- September 23, 2020: Department of Health and Human Services Alex Azar certified that Canadian drug importation would pose no additional threats to consumers and would save Americans a significant amount of money on prescription drugs.
- June 10, 2020: The House Committee on Health & Insurance postponed SB20-119, which would have expanded Colorado's importation program beyond Canada, indefinitely.
- March 9, 2020: Colorado releases draft importation proposal and appendices.
- February 13, 2020: Colorado Health and Human Services Committee hearing on SB 119
- January 2020: The Colorado legislature considers SB20-119, which would expand importation from Canada to prescription drug suppliers from other nations.
- August 19, 2019: SB-19-005 Final Fiscal Note.
- May 16, 2019: Colorado SB19-005 is signed into Law
- October 11, 2019: The Department for Healthcare and Public Financing issues RFIs to pharmacies and wholesalers.
- November 2019: Colorado's Department of Health Care Policy & Financing held webinars to engage stakeholders: Slides
Planning documents
- SB19-005: Text of the Bill | Fiscal Note
- Requests for Information, October 11, 2019: Pharmacies | Wholesalers
- Responses to Requests for Information:
- The Partnership for Safe Medicines, October 22, 2019 : Pharmacies | Wholesalers
- PHRMA, October 25, 2019: Pharmacies | Wholesalers
Background / resources
Learn more about
- The Drug Importation Debate
- Fake Medicine in Colorado
- The Importance of U.S. Closed Drug Supply Chain
News coverage
Op-eds from the Experts
These dangerous drugs get trafficked into Colorado and present a clear and present danger to unsuspecting citizens, who can die from simply ingesting what they think are safe medications. Importing foreign drugs would open a loophole, which increases the chance these dangerous counterfeits enter America unbeknownst to us all.
In this February 4th, 2019 editorial for Colorado Politics, Denver resident Ali Schroer warns, “I experienced firsthand the dangers of counterfeit, imported drugs, and was critically ill for months as we sought to uncover the source of my illness.”
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