Yesterday, we wrote about Marcia Bergeron, who inadvertently became the poster child for the reimportation debate. The 58-year-old Vancouver resident died in December and last week the coroner made official what drugmakers and pharmacists have been saying for months - she was killed by fake meds ordered over the Internet.
Bergeron’s death is a poignant reminder that counterfeit meds do exist and can be harmful. But if the cost of some meds remains out of reach for enough people, counterfeiting will likely continue. And black markets can be difficult to eradicate. Which raises a question - is it time to discuss legalizing importation? We asked you to vote, which you can do here.
1 Comment
Clearly, this issue is the extent to which FDA, Health Canada, and similar agencies can oversee what comes in. FDA has gone out of its way to say that they cannot do that job. Others have offered policies which point the toward how they could. They have not followed up.
As it stands, most of the major ingredients of most brand name drugs are not made in the U.S.. To that extent, "reimportation" already exists. Again, the question is whether FDA is willing, and can be empowered, to do the work necessary.
Given the death toll from rx drugs, appropriatelly prescribed, one "poster child" should not be the basis of policy. Unfortunately, in my view, that is often how it goes.