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LiberalFighter

(50,506 posts)
Mon Jan 16, 2017, 02:28 PM Jan 2017

Heres why the fight over Bernie Sanderss drug amendment is dangerous.

Heres why the fight over Bernie Sanderss drug amendment is dangerous.
Here’s why Senator Sanders’s amendment really failed:

Obviously, when importing items that Americans are going to put into their bodies (in my case, via a chemo port that is a straight shot to my heart), it’s pretty damn important that they be safe. To make sure their safe, we have a little agency called the Food and Drug Administration, or the FDA.

Sanders’s amendment — which was a BUDGET amendment — did not include provisions for the FDA to do any quality control and compliance. Without that provision of funds, they cannot do anything to protect American patients, meaning people like me can no longer be sure that it’s our actual medicine we’re shooting into our veins, instead of pixie stix dust and water mixed together by some enterprising crook.
Oh hey, here’s a bunch of Republicans sharing a hearty belly laugh immediately after signing legislation to repeal Obamacare. Remember when we were all united to fight THEM? I miss that, let’s do that again. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)

And sure, that’s a ridiculous example of the (very real) dangers of importing drugs without FDA oversight, but counterfeit drugs are a real problem, and they kill real people every year. Not that long ago, it was revealed a Canadian pharmacy website had smuggled millions of dollars worth of medications, largely composed of cancer drugs. Real people dying from real cancer were given fake drugs because of lack of FDA oversight — the same potential issue with Sanders’s amendment.

And that wasn’t an isolated incident. There have also been documented cases of imported heart medication turning out to be rat poison, cholesterol medicine being filled with brick dust, and antibiotics being filled with (surprise!) paint and inkjet material. Nothing says “health and happiness” like accidentally taking rat poison.


For those that argue they are in the pocket of big Pharma don't forget that Sanders ranks third in contributions from them last year among all Democratic Senators. So should he be exempt from that criticism or should better understanding of what makes up those contributions be made?
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RDANGELO

(3,430 posts)
1. Canada has an agency that is as stringent or maybe even more than ours.
Mon Jan 16, 2017, 02:43 PM
Jan 2017

So if you have the FDA do a check, it would be a double check. The bigger problem would be if it was allowed from third world countries.

 

bettyellen

(47,209 posts)
3. As I understand it their refs are for what's sold in Canada and don't cover exports- yet.
Mon Jan 16, 2017, 02:46 PM
Jan 2017

Had also heard there were issues in WA w fakes being sold across the border.

lapucelle

(18,041 posts)
6. Here's the language from the relevant Canadian statute.
Mon Jan 16, 2017, 02:55 PM
Jan 2017

5.5.0 General Policy
Health products and/or their components that are imported into Canada for export only must meet the relevant requirements of the Food and Drugs Act and its Regulations at the time of importation.

Drugs do not have to meet them same standards going out of Canada that they must meet going into Canada.

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/dhp-mps/compli-conform/import-export/pol-0060_biu-uif-eng.php#a54

Sherman A1

(38,958 posts)
4. This however, I believe does answer the question it asks.
Mon Jan 16, 2017, 02:49 PM
Jan 2017
For those that argue they are in the pocket of big Pharma don't forget that Sanders ranks third in contributions from them last year among all Democratic Senators. So should he be exempt from that criticism or should better understanding of what makes up those contributions be made?


Even if Sanders received large sums from the Pharma Sector, which way did he vote? As it was his amendment one thinks he probably voted to support the effort.

lapucelle

(18,041 posts)
5. I wish the BoBs had held Hillary to that same standard during the election.
Mon Jan 16, 2017, 02:55 PM
Jan 2017

Funny how some people (I don't mean you, Sherman A1) hold double standards.

Sherman A1

(38,958 posts)
7. As to whether
Mon Jan 16, 2017, 02:58 PM
Jan 2017

you mean me as an individual or not and I don't care (I very, very, very reluctantly voted for HRC), sweeping generalizations and labeling rarely contribute to uplifting the dialogue.

LiberalFighter

(50,506 posts)
11. And it slides right by those people.
Mon Jan 16, 2017, 06:33 PM
Jan 2017

I have qualms about political contributions and the impact it might have but it would be wrong to consider all political contributions identified all the same within an industry. Something that many don't understand probably because the organizations that aggregate the data like OpenSecrets don't do a very good job of identifying how it is done.

I did a post about this related to Big Pharma. That industry could include Pharma execs, lab techs, secretaries, janitors, local CVS or Walgreens sales clerks, and many others.

dogman

(6,073 posts)
9. Counterfit drugs have been sold through the US system.
Mon Jan 16, 2017, 03:19 PM
Jan 2017

This isn't Canada.
http://www.aarp.org/health/drugs-supplements/info-2016/counterfeit-prescription-drugs-rx.html
"By all accounts, the drug supply in the United States is among the safest and most controlled in the world. But it's under a growing threat from organized and white-collar criminals pushing stolen, out-of-date, adulterated or fake medications. They make their way into pharmacies, nursing homes, hospitals and doctors' offices. At best, they are suspect because they are sold outside of the regulated supply chains. At worst, they may be medically worthless or even toxic.

Since 2010, nearly 1,400 adverse reactions related to counterfeit drugs have been reported to the FDA, according to data compiled by FDAble, a company that tracks undesirable reactions caused by medications and medical devices. The reports don't reflect the true size of the problem. Most people who use counterfeit or compromised medications never find out about it. If they have an adverse reaction, or don't get well, they rarely imagine a counterfeit drug may have been the cause. How many people are harmed or killed by suspect drugs? No one knows. According to Bruce Foucart, director of the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center, which was established in 1999 to fight counterfeiting, "It's very difficult to prove" — even when a person dies. "Unless a complete autopsy was done, we will never know the answer."

CentralMass

(15,265 posts)
10. Well, I stand with the Democrats in this list that voted for it
Mon Jan 16, 2017, 03:27 PM
Jan 2017

Grouped By Vote Position
YEAs ---46
Baldwin (D-WI)
Blumenthal (D-CT)
Boozman (R-AR)
Brown (D-OH)
Cardin (D-MD)
Collins (R-ME)
Cortez Masto (D-NV)
Cruz (R-TX)
Duckworth (D-IL)
Durbin (D-IL)
Flake (R-AZ)
Franken (D-MN)
Gillibrand (D-NY)
Grassley (R-IA)
Harris (D-CA)
Hassan (D-NH)
Heller (R-NV)
Hirono (D-HI)
Kaine (D-VA)
Kennedy (R-LA)
King (I-ME)
Klobuchar (D-MN)
Leahy (D-VT)
Lee (R-UT)
Manchin (D-WV)
Markey (D-MA)
McCain (R-AZ)
McCaskill (D-MO)
Merkley (D-OR)
Murkowski (R-AK)
Murphy (D-CT)
Nelson (D-FL)
Paul (R-KY)
Peters (D-MI)
Reed (D-RI)
Sanders (I-VT)
Schatz (D-HI)
Schumer (D-NY)
Shaheen (D-NH)
Stabenow (D-MI)
Thune (R-SD)
Udall (D-NM)
Van Hollen (D-MD)
Warren (D-MA)
Whitehouse (D-RI)
Wyden (D-OR)m

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