CHAIN

Colorado's prescription drug importation program is not a solution

Three years ago, Governor Polis and the state legislature touted passage of Colorado’s prescription drug importation bill.

Three years later, nothing.

    • No system for importing drugs from Canada and other nations.
    • Canada and other nations have said no to exporting drugs to Colorado.
    • Over $2 million in state tax dollars spent without achieving drug importation.

Drug importation – from Canada or any other country – is not a solution to the rising cost of prescription drugs in the U.S. 

Importing drugs into America from foreign sources adds up to a terrible practice.  

    • The federal government must issue a waiver for any state to implement importation, a process denied and stalled for decades and not likely to happen any time soon.
    • Four former Commissioners of the Food and Drug Administration (of both parties) vocally oppose importation because of safety and quality concerns.
    • Canadian authorities state repeatedly they will not allow the exporting of Canadian prescription drugs because of dire shortages in their own country.
    • Importing drugs from other countries could put millions of Americans at risk of serious harm or even death because of lax regulations and black-market operators.

We can and MUST do better.  CHAIN is busy educating law makers on why we need better solutions.