3 ms·

> I understand that some drugs sold overseas are not suitable for human consumption Frankly, a lot of FDA-approved drugs sold in the US aren't suitable for con

> I understand that some drugs sold overseas are not suitable for human consumption Frankly, a lot of FDA-approved drugs sold in the US aren't suitable for consumption, especially generics manufactured outside the US. The FDA simply doesn't have the resources to enforce good manufacturing practices and product consistency, so a lot of subpar medication manages to slip under the radar and into the US market. The situation is much more grim for non-US buyers, who often get products of significantly worse quality. 'Bottle of Lies' by Katherine Eban[1] provides a thorough and very unsettling exposé on the issue. [1]https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/13/books/review/bottle-of-lies-katherine-eban.html https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/13/books/review/bottle-of-li...

gtop3 4y ago
Prescription drugs are barred from being imported for a different reason than quality control because non prescription drugs are allowed to be imported.
- kridsdale1 4y ago
  Buying affordable medicine is a crime not because there is a health risk, but because you are engaging in copyright infringement. You aren’t paying your toll to the Nice Men who bought their right to monopoly.
  - gtop3 4y ago
    The FDA has rules limiting the import of all prescription drugs, and does not distinguish between drugs with an active patent and those with an expired patent. In addition, it's possible to purchase patented drugs that are manufactured legally overseas. I think you are conflating illegally manufactured medicine and laws for importing medicine. You can see the FDA makes no mention on if the medicine is under a patent when setting it's rules for which prescription drugs can be imported [0]. [0] https://www.fda.gov/industry/import-basics/personal-importation https://www.fda.gov/industry/import-basics/personal-importat...
  - sithadmin 4y ago
    'Buying affordable medicine' in your argument begins false premise. Whether or not many cheap generic substances produced for sale primarily in the developing world actually qualify as 'medicine' by US/EU standards is a very serious problem, and it's very common that these generic drugs don't live up to the standard for various reasons. Issues like under-dosing of the active compound, contamination, and use of unsafe additives are all frequent issues with drugs not intended for sale in the North America/The EU/markets that follow US/CA/EU approval in lieu of strong local standards. In reality, the 'crime' here is buying something that may, or often may not qualify as medicine per leading standards, for which there are both safety and intellectual property concerns.
- sithadmin 4y ago
  Yes, primarily for a few well justified reasons: 1) usage of prescription drugs usually entails significantly greater risks of adverse effects compared to OTC drugs (barring some grandfathered-in legacy substances like acetaminophen, which would probably not be approved for OTC use today), 2) relative to usage of OTC drugs, the stakes associated with usage of an under-performing prescription drug are much greater in magnitude, and 3) there is an economic incentive to produce counterfeit or otherwise subpar prescription drugs that doesn't exist for OTC drugs, the wholesale value of which can be often be measured in fractions of a penny. Counterfeits are also a lot more common in the developing world than people would expect, and this stuff frequently ends up in online pharmacies. Manufacturers of drugs bound for international markets do implement measures that you usually don't see in the US (e.g. consumer-accessible websites/phone lines to verify a lot number and unique serial printed on counterfeit-resistant holograms), but even that doesn't do a lot of good. I've personally purchased antibiotics from a pharmacy in Vietnam that had convincing anti-counterfeit labels - but shame on me for not paying attention to the serial numbers. I bought two boxes with lot numbers and serials that checked out on the manufacturer website...but both boxes had the same serial, which shouldn't have been possible. The hologram stickers were indistinguishable from images of legitimate ones portrayed on the manufacturer website. I'm assuming everything the pharmacy had on hand for that drug (amoxicillin + potassium clavulanate) had the same serial on the label.
  - TheSpiceIsLife 4y ago
    What's wrong with paracetamol? It's a liver toxin. Why's that bad? Teenage girls. People who live with teensge girls should treat paracetamol like firearms. OR Just regulate that, whatever? 100mg of n-acetyl-cystiene be in each tablet, thereby rendering the overdose potential significantly reduced.
    - red-iron-pine 4y ago
      By teenage girls you mean suicide attempts via pills. The solution to that problem might not be restricting basic painkillers.

gtop3 4y ago

Prescription drugs are barred from being imported for a different reason than quality control because non prescription drugs are allowed to be imported.

kridsdale1 4y ago
Buying affordable medicine is a crime not because there is a health risk, but because you are engaging in copyright infringement. You aren’t paying your toll to the Nice Men who bought their right to monopoly.
- gtop3 4y ago
  The FDA has rules limiting the import of all prescription drugs, and does not distinguish between drugs with an active patent and those with an expired patent. In addition, it's possible to purchase patented drugs that are manufactured legally overseas. I think you are conflating illegally manufactured medicine and laws for importing medicine. You can see the FDA makes no mention on if the medicine is under a patent when setting it's rules for which prescription drugs can be imported [0]. [0] https://www.fda.gov/industry/import-basics/personal-importation https://www.fda.gov/industry/import-basics/personal-importat...
- sithadmin 4y ago
  'Buying affordable medicine' in your argument begins false premise. Whether or not many cheap generic substances produced for sale primarily in the developing world actually qualify as 'medicine' by US/EU standards is a very serious problem, and it's very common that these generic drugs don't live up to the standard for various reasons. Issues like under-dosing of the active compound, contamination, and use of unsafe additives are all frequent issues with drugs not intended for sale in the North America/The EU/markets that follow US/CA/EU approval in lieu of strong local standards. In reality, the 'crime' here is buying something that may, or often may not qualify as medicine per leading standards, for which there are both safety and intellectual property concerns.
sithadmin 4y ago
Yes, primarily for a few well justified reasons: 1) usage of prescription drugs usually entails significantly greater risks of adverse effects compared to OTC drugs (barring some grandfathered-in legacy substances like acetaminophen, which would probably not be approved for OTC use today), 2) relative to usage of OTC drugs, the stakes associated with usage of an under-performing prescription drug are much greater in magnitude, and 3) there is an economic incentive to produce counterfeit or otherwise subpar prescription drugs that doesn't exist for OTC drugs, the wholesale value of which can be often be measured in fractions of a penny. Counterfeits are also a lot more common in the developing world than people would expect, and this stuff frequently ends up in online pharmacies. Manufacturers of drugs bound for international markets do implement measures that you usually don't see in the US (e.g. consumer-accessible websites/phone lines to verify a lot number and unique serial printed on counterfeit-resistant holograms), but even that doesn't do a lot of good. I've personally purchased antibiotics from a pharmacy in Vietnam that had convincing anti-counterfeit labels - but shame on me for not paying attention to the serial numbers. I bought two boxes with lot numbers and serials that checked out on the manufacturer website...but both boxes had the same serial, which shouldn't have been possible. The hologram stickers were indistinguishable from images of legitimate ones portrayed on the manufacturer website. I'm assuming everything the pharmacy had on hand for that drug (amoxicillin + potassium clavulanate) had the same serial on the label.
- TheSpiceIsLife 4y ago
  What's wrong with paracetamol? It's a liver toxin. Why's that bad? Teenage girls. People who live with teensge girls should treat paracetamol like firearms. OR Just regulate that, whatever? 100mg of n-acetyl-cystiene be in each tablet, thereby rendering the overdose potential significantly reduced.
  - red-iron-pine 4y ago
    By teenage girls you mean suicide attempts via pills. The solution to that problem might not be restricting basic painkillers.