Progressives Outraged Over Booker, Democrats Vote on Prescription Drugs From Canada - See more at:

[Hoyt]

10. Maybe Trump will live up to his promise to negotiate drug prices through Medicare.

Could Booker and the other Dems voted that way because of Drug Company contributions? Sure. But they might also have been convinced that with no oversight over drugs from Canada or another foreign country, it would be too easy for counterfeit drugs to be supplied from rogue pharmacies, even from Russia.

I tried to buy some drugs from Canada once and found that many of the websites were suspect.
Maybe there could have been some compromise, a big warning and patient has to sign a waiver or something.


Below are just a couple of paragraphs from Consumer Reports.

"It’s not terribly risky to order a toaster online, but it is when you fill prescriptions through Internet pharmacies. Cyberspace is rife with sellers peddling illegal and even toxic products, often through websites that appear to be authentic.

“"The vast majority of websites selling prescription drugs are not legitimate,” says Carmen Catizone, D.Ph., executive director of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy (NABP). Last June, for example, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) took action against more than 1,050 sites, seizing products being sold fraudulently as FDA-approved prescription drugs and medical devices. And Catizone points out that of the almost 11,000 online drug outlets that NABP recently reviewed, only about 4 percent were operating according to U.S. laws and standards."

Article went on to say:

"Internet pharmacies claiming to be Canadian usually aren’t. “Most are fake storefronts selling low-quality products from Third World countries,” explains Carmen Catizone of the National Association of Boards of Pharmacy."

http://www.consumerreports.org/cro/news/2015/08/is-it-ok-to-buy-medicine-online/index.htm


Of course, the quotes above could include a lot of "protecting their turf and profits." Heck, it could have been written by Martin Shkreli.


In any event, I hope Congress comes around to doing something with drugs where people don't have to take chances to stay alive.