Trump wants to import drugs from Canada. Canadians are furious

Canadians are in a kerfuffle over the Trump administration’s preliminary plan to allow Americans to import lower-cost prescription medications from Canada.

The plan was announced July 31 and is part of the administration’s long-sought effort to drag down the US’s skyrocketing drug prices. But it’s a long way from being a reality. Even if the plan does pan out, it will likely be years before regulators review, approve, and scale up efforts to import drugs.

Still, Canadians are infuriated by the idea and already brainstorming ways to toss it down the garburator, according to a report by health-news outlet STAT. Many fear that American importation would exacerbate current drug shortages in Canada.

“You are coming as Americans to poach our drug supply, and I don’t have any polite words for that,” Amir Attaran of the University of Ottawa told STAT. Prof. Attaran went on to refer to the plan as “deplorable” and “atrociously unethical.” “Our drugs are not for you, period.”

Under the Trump administration’s plan, individual states would come up with their own frameworks to safely import drugs and then submit the plans to the federal government for approval. The administration also plans to allow manufacturers to import foreign versions of drugs already approved by the Food and Drug Administration and sell them at lower costs, as Kaiser Health News points out.

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar—who once called the idea of importing drugs from Canada a “gimmick”—said the federal government is now “open for business” on the idea of importing Canadian drugs. In the past, the HHS, FDA, and US drug companies have argued that there was no way to ensure the safety and efficacy of imported drugs. But by the time the administration announced its import plan, Azar said his mind had been changed.

On Monday, August 12, Canada’s Minister of Health Ginette Petitpas Taylor was set to meet with pharmacists, patients, and industry officials to discuss a response to the US plan, according to STAT. Petitpas Taylor has pledged to “ensure there are no adverse effects to the supply or cost of prescription drugs in Canada.”

In order to protect Canadians, some advocates and policy experts suggested that Canada could begin controlling the export of pharmaceuticals, pass new laws simply banning exporting drugs meant for Canadians, or impose new tariffs.

https://arstechnica.com/?p=1550205