CASE STUDY: IMPORTING DRUGS TO US

Case Study: Importing Drugs to US

7-3: Should the United States legalize the importation of lower cost pharmaceuticals? If so, should this apply to individual consumers, pharmacies, or other entities?

The US should legalize the importation of lower-cost pharmaceuticals from selected countries with testing and licensure requirements similar to those of the FDA. Strict conformity to US standards for handling and manufacturing prescriptions would ensure that Americans are protected from unsafe medication. Importation would also lower drug prices for American consumers as assessments have indicated that prescription drugs in countries like Canada retail at between 40 and 60 percent less than in the US (XXX). Ultimately, this would result in significant cost savings for individual customers as well as private and public payers. For instance, the state of Florida projects that its importation program would save the state between $80 and $150 million in prescription expenses annually (Freed et al., 2021).

Current importation laws only allow pharmaceutical companies to import drugs into the US. In...

However, this creates a monopoly among manufacturers that limits price competition and encourages price gouging (XXX). For instance, the case demonstrates...…been realized.

The FDA could set the standard that only drugs that are currently marketed in the US would be eligible for importation. Current law excludes certain drugs and biological products from importation including drugs inhaled during surgery, intravenously injected drugs, infused drugs, biological products such as insulin, controlled substances, and drugs such as opioids that are classified under the FDAs Risk Mitigation and Evaluation Strategies (REMS) for posing serious safety concerns (Freed et al., 2021). These drugs could be excluded from importation, due to their associated safety concerns. Any other drugs that is currently marketed in the US market could be imported for…