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Charles Bradshaw said:
Part of the Medicare Prescription law made getting your prescriptions filled in Canada and Mexico (or any other country), AND bringing them back to the USA, a Felony. You can thank the Drug Manufacturers for that whole mess. The USA pays for all of the lost profits from Foreign Prescription Price Controls via gouged prices.
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The FDA, for now, is still telling US Customs that it is OK to import drugs for personal use:
FDA Drug Import Site
FDA Traveler's Rules and Recommendations
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Traveler Alert
The U.S. Customs Service enforces Federal laws and regulations, including those of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
The United States Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act (21 U.S.C. sections 331(d), and 355(a)), which is administered by FDA, prohibits the interstate shipment (which includes importation) of unapproved new drugs. Unapproved new drugs are any drugs, including foreign-made versions of U.S. approved drugs, that have not received FDA approval to demonstrate they meet the federal requirements for safety and effectiveness. It is the importer's obligation to demonstrate to FDA that any drugs offered for importation have been approved by FDA.
FDA has developed guidance entitled "Coverage of Personal Importations" which sets forth that agency's enforcement priorities with respect to the personal importation of unapproved new drugs by individuals for their personal use. The guidance identifies circumstances in which FDA may consider exercising enforcement discretion and refrain from taking legal action against illegally imported drugs. Those circumstances are as follows:
"1) the intended use [of the drug] is unapproved and for a serious condition for which effective treatment may not be available domestically either through commercial or clinical means;
2) there is no known commercialization or promotion to persons residing in the U.S. by those involved in the distribution of the product at issue;
3) the product is considered not to represent an unreasonable risk;
and
4)
the individual seeking to import the product affirms in writing that it is for the patient's own use (generally not more than a 3 month supply) and provides the name and address of the doctor licensed in the U.S. responsible for his or her treatment with the product, or provides evidence that the product is for the continuation of a treatment begun in a foreign country." (Emphasis added by FDA)
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I don't know any details about the new Medicare Law, so I don't know how and/or when the current rules may change.
I do agree that Canada, Mexico, and the world's Socialism is being paid for by US consumers and government. The losers will probably be those with diseases that won't make a profit (like AIDS) as drug development will either be slowed/stopped or taken over by governments (i.e., taxpayers).
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They have the usual socialist disease; they have run out of other people's money.
THATCHER, MARGARET, Speech to a Conservative Party Conference, October 10, 1975
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-Bill