US Drug Reimportation

Summary

Parallel trading in prescription pharmaceuticals is becoming an increasingly significant issue in the United States, as individuals and governments in the country look to ways of gaining cheaper pharmaceuticals. Although it is technically illegal for anyone other than a drug's manufacturer to bring pharmaceuticals into the US, recent years have seen an increase in prescription drugs entering the country through parallel trade.

The matter has gained increasing attention at a federal level, with several bills being introduced to both houses of Congress in recent years. As healthcare costs rise, so has the clamour to find a solution to curb the price of prescription drugs. Allowing parallel trading has become one of the most frequent calls!

This report addresses the key issues and questions which matter:

• Why has drug reimportation become such a major issue?
• Drugs entering the US through the mail have - to date - come officially via Canada, Ireland or the UK. However, many pharmaceutical shipments are really sourced further afield from countries such as India, the Philippines or Romania. Which sources of supply are acceptable to US consumers?
• Will the political stalemate, where neither the regulators, federal or state governments are able to agree the best way forward, ever be resolved?
• The volume of drugs estimated to be imported into the US on a daily basis is so great that neither the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) nor the FDA have mechanisms for keeping an accurate count.
• What is the likely outcome?

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