Importing
drugs is penny wise and pound foolish for Wisconsins fiscal
and prescription health.
|
Importing
Liability
Governor
Jim Doyle needs to take a basic course in the American tort system.
As he leaps onboard the prescription drug importation bandwagon
touting "savings" for Wisconsinites and the states
red-inked budget Doyle is turning a blind eye to the legal
consequences of his plan, not to mention its real monetary cost.
Wisconsin is not just importing prescription drugs but legal liability,
too.
Wisconsin
will be liable when one of its citizens is hospitalized or
even dies after taking an unsafe medication purchased from a Canadian
pharmacy "featured" on his states Prescription Drug
Resource Center website. And when not if that happens,
the taxpayers will be left holding the bill for the states
legal expenses and the plaintiffs verdict, as well.
No
one can ensure the safety of prescription drugs imported to American
consumers not Governor Doyle, the federal Food and Drug Administration,
Health Canada, or even the pharmaceutical companies. Both the FDA
and Health Canada (the FDAs northern counterpart) have repeatedly
warned that there are no guarantees when it comes to taking medications
imported from Canadian pharmacies, and federal sting operations
prove the reality and seriousness of these concerns.
The
FDA conducted a perfunctory import blitz in November, finding 1,729
"unapproved drugs" in the 1,982 packages examined. These
illegally imported medications included "recalled drugs, drugs
requiring special storage conditions, drugs requiring close physician
monitoring and drugs containing addictive controlled substances,"
and the FDA underscored their serious risks, stating that "[u]napproved
drugs lack assurances of safety, effectiveness, quality and purity."
Quite simply, when Americans buy drugs from foreign pharmacies
even in Canada those medications are often mislabeled, unapproved,
counterfeit or worse, they could be contaminated, the wrong dosage
or even another drug altogether.
Whats
more, while 80 percent of the intercepted packages came from Canada,
those prescriptions "revealed that products were manufactured
in countries other than Canada." The FDA found medications
produced in such medically-advanced and safety-conscious countries
as Mexico, Costa Rica, India, Pakistan, Taiwan, Thailand, and a
host of others. In other words, imported drugs are often only in
Canada long enough to get a new postmark.
Despite
these obvious dangers, Governor Doyle is aggressively encouraging
Minnesotans to purchase their prescription drugs from Canadian pharmacies
"visited" and "reviewed" by Wisconsin state
officials. If you think that sounds like an endorsement, well, it
is. The states website says "Wisconsin
is confident
that the prescription medications listed by these pharmacies
will be dispensed in a safe manner," and notes that the "featured"
pharmacies "are licensed by a Canadian province and governed
by the laws and regulation of Canada," which are "similar
to regulations applicable to pharmacies licensed by the State of
Wisconsin." In other words, the state more than implies the
"featured" Canadian pharmacies met Wisconsins pharmaceutical
standards.
By
vouching for the safety of these Canadian pharmacies, Governor Doyle
has placed his state squarely in the legal line of fire, baiting
the hook for any trial lawyer to sue Wisconsin on behalf of any
citizen injured by an imported drug.
The
legal argument is simple and logical. A Wisconsinite needed a prescription
and was instructed by his state that it was both safe and cheap
to buy from Canada. The plaintiff relied on the advice because Wisconsins
website not only directed him to the online pharmacy but also told
him that a state official had approved the pharmacy as "safe,
reputable, and reliable."
In
fact, the evidence is far more damning. The FDA has not only warned
Governor Doyle that importing drugs is "illegal," but
also of the "inadequacies" and "deficiencies"
observed at far too many Canadian pharmacies. As pointed out in
a letter to Governor Doyle, when neighboring Minnesota officials
went on preannounced inspections to pharmacies north of the
border, including two "featured" on Wisconsins website,
they "noted dozens of safety problems," including failing
to label prescriptions at all, neglecting to send any information
with the drugs, and even re-dispensing medicines that were not labeled
and appeared to be previously returned. These facts demonstrate
why it wont take long for a jury to hold Wisconsin responsible
when anything goes wrong, and why the states feeble attempt
to disclaim liability in a buried "legal notice" wont
succeed. After all, the state told its citizens to buy their drugs
from Canada, and thats just what they did.
Wisconsin
cant afford this liability. With the average American filling
10 prescriptions per year and the last U.S. Census counting Wisconsins
population at more than 5 million, liability awards will swiftly
wipe out any anticipated "savings," leaving taxpayers
digging deep in their pockets to pay for more drug-induced claims.
Importing
drugs is penny wise and pound foolish for Wisconsins fiscal
and prescription health. Theres a reason why every former
FDA Commissioner since 1969 has warned against importing drugs,
and why the current FDA has been unable to certify drugs shipped
from Canada as "safe" they arent. And until
they are, Canadian pharmacies will cost Wisconsinites far too much
for their prescriptions, not at a cash register or through the mail,
but in the courts at home.
[Posted
April 22, 2004]
Return
to State Issues
Index
|