Reply #14: Explained by the fact there are regulations that must be followed.

[eomer]

A license is required, but is (I believe) almost always granted when applied for.

If you don't apply for the license (perhaps because you disagree that you ought to have to get one) then your shipment may be stopped.

But if you do comply with the regulations then medical items can be imported and are imported into Cuba from the US.

I don't know for a fact that there isn't monkey business perpetrated by some US agency, so if you have some evidence of that I probably wouldn't argue it. But the case you cited, at least according to your cite, appears to be a case where they simply didn't bother to get the license.

I'm most strongly in favor of accuracy and clarity, so I'm glad that you posted this. The statement that medical supplies are prohibited by the embargo is most definitely not true. The more nuanced question of how hard or easy it is to import medical supplies is a topic I'd like to know more about.