The FDA has increased the number of seizures of prescription drugs imported to the U.S. from pharmacies in Canada and other countries in the last month, affecting people trying to avoid leaving home during the COVID-19 crisis, Kaiser Health News reported.
The FDA has said that in most cases, importing drugs from other countries is illegal, but it rarely stops Americans from bringing drugs across the Canadian border and seizes only a fraction of drugs sent by mail from foreign pharmacies.
The FDA has not stopped retail stores in Florida from helping people buy drugs abroad since 2003, according to Kaiser Health News.
The Trump Administration has been working with states to set up a system to allow Americans to import cheaper drugs from other countries.
About 2 percent of American adults say they buy drugs from outside the U.S. by either traveling abroad or using the internet, according to Kaiser Health News.
But in the last month, the FDA has been seizing more drugs being imported from foreign pharmacies, primarily affecting customers trying to stay home during the COVID-19 pandemic, Kaiser Health News reported.
Bill Hepscher, co-owner of Canadian Medstore, a Florida-based business that facilitates drug imports from Canadian pharmacies to the U.S., told Kaiser Health News that more than 200 of his customers have had drugs seized by the FDA since early March and that those customers have to reorder their medications or pay higher prices at local pharmacies.
Gabriel Levitt, co-founder of PharmacyChecker.com, a company that verifies international online pharmacies, told Kaiser Health News the drug seizures are affecting his customers nationwide. He assumed the crackdown on foreign drug imports is related to the government's efforts to scrutinize drugs claiming to treat or prevent COVID-19.
"It’s odd that during a pandemic the FDA is spending resources seizing packages," Judy Vobroucek, owner of Discount Med Direct, a Florida-based company that helps people order prescriptions from Canada and other countries, told Kaiser Health News.
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