Sen. Burr as Rip Van Winkle

Senator Burr: Rip Van Winkle Performance on Drug Importation, Owes Italy an Apology 

This past June, during a debate in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee,  Senator Richard Burr (R-NC), the committee’s Ranking Member, demonstrated that he does not understand very important developments in our nation’s approach to drug regulation and safety. It was almost as if Sen. Burr had fallen asleep over 20 years ago and woke […]

Read More

DOJ Investigates $250 Million in U.S. Sales of Counterfeit Drugs Using Fake DSCSA Pedigrees

The U.S. Department of Justice, according to Seeking Alpha, is investigating the sale and distribution of counterfeit drugs in the U.S. that may have amounted to a quarter-billion dollars. The investigation comes about two months after The Wall Street Journal reported on a lawsuit filed by Gilead Sciences alleging a massive breach in the U.S. drug supply chain […]

Read More

Domain Reform for Unlawful Drug Sellers (DRUGS) Act (S. 3399)

The Domain Reform for Unlawful Drug Sellers Act is Big Pharma’s Bill

UPDATE: Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) has withdrawn her sponsorship and support for this bill. A new bill introduced by Sens. Mark Rubio (R-FL) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN), called the “Domain Reform for Unlawful Drug Sellers Act’’ or, for short, the ‘‘DRUGS Act,’’ could effectively end online access to safe and affordable imported medicines for Americans. […]

Read More

Return of the MEDS Act? Colorado Seeks Drug Imports Beyond Canada

This past week, to lower drug costs, a bill was introduced in the Colorado legislature – SENATE BILL 21-123 – to allow drug imports from countries other than Canada. Colorado, which passed a law in 2019 allowing drug importation from Canada, apparently wants access to even lower cost drugs than Canada can offer. It’s also a way to address the real obstacle that Canada’s population is only 11% the size of the U.S. population and excess drugs supplies are limited. State of Reform does a nice job covering this bill, but this post gives some underlying and important history.

Read More