FDA Opens Door to Importing Drugs

Rising pressure to do more to control drug prices is prompting Trump administration officials to explore where more flexible import policies may help ensure access to safe, effective, and more affordable medicines. For years, consumer advocates and state officials have pushed for access to less expensive prescription medicines available overseas, only to meet stiff resistance from FDA and government health authorities claiming that such action could bring unsafe and harmful products into the United States. This opposition has come from both Democratic and Republican administrations, bolstered by evidence that drugs supposedly from Canada or Europe are often of unknown origin and are shipped by unscrupulous website operators.