Limbaugh Prosecutor Supports Illegal Prescription Drug Marketer Carol Roberts

Collated | December 5, 2003 | Various

[Tickled Pink]

Limbaugh prosecutor, Democrat Florida District Attorney Barry Krischer, would appear to be a political supporter of Democrat Carol Roberts, who is running for Congress.

Here are the only results a search of FEC donations turns up from anyone named Krischer in West Palm Beach, where Krischer lives. It would appear to be a listing for his wife:

KRISCHER, EVA
WEST PALM BEACH, FL 33409
PALM BEACH COUNTY SCHOOL BOARD/TE

ROBERTS, CAROL A
VIA CAROL ROBERTS FOR CONGRESS
06/18/2002 250.00 22991396640

FEC Search

Carol Roberts received attention for her role in the last Presidential election, when she demanded a manual recount of the ballots in Palm Beach County.

But more significantly, in view of the Limbaugh case, she has been running ads encouraging people to buy prescription drugs illegally.

Roberts launches TV campaign (Carol Roberts Promoting Illegal Drug Purchases)

She operates a toll free number: "Save on Drugs Call 1-866-Rx-CAROL."

Roberts cites for her legal authority none other than her friend, Barry Krischer:

"Roberts brandished a letter from Palm Beach County State Attorney and fellow Democrat Barry Krischer declaring that Florida law doesn't punish anyone for purchasing American drugs abroad, even though the practice is a violation of federal law."

Florida Candidate Recommends People Buy Prescription Drugs Outside U.S.

[sellursoul]

This might surprise you, I don't actually listen to Rush, and I don't necessarily expect you to read Michael Moore or Al Franken - to each his own.

That being said, which one of these quotes from 1995 was I not supposed to post:

"What this says to me is that too many whites are getting away with drug use. Too many whites are getting away with drug sales. Too many whites are getting away with trafficking in this stuff. The answer to this disparity is not to start letting people out of jail because we're not putting others in jail who are breaking the law. The answer is to go out and find the ones who are getting away with it, convict them and send them up the river, too." -- Rush Limbaugh show, Oct. 5, 1995

"Drug use, some might say, is destroying this country. And we have laws against selling drugs, pushing drugs, using drugs, importing drugs. And the laws are good because we know what happens to people in societies and neighborhoods which become consumed by them. And so if people are violating the law by doing drugs, they ought to be accused and they ought to be
convicted and they ought to be sent up."
-- Rush Limbaugh. October 5, 1995 show transcript.

"It's kind of like sentencing. A lot of people say that we have a heavy sentence for this crime and a light sentence for another crime, and what we ought to do is reduce the heavy sentence so it's more in line with the other. Wrong. In most cases we ought to increase the light sentence and make it compatible with the heavy sentence, and be serious about punishment because we are becoming too tolerant as a society, folks, especially of crime, in too many parts of the country."
-- Rush Limbaugh. October 5, 1995 show transcript.

[Tickled Pink]

It looks to me like the aforementioned legislation is Federal legislation, not Florida legislation. The last sentence of your quote makes just that point, that Florida law doesn't prohibit it, but that Federal law does.

You're right. I misread Federal for Florida. Federal laws supersede state laws (or the absence of same), of course.

[gitmo]

I thought cyncooper's point was that this was the one time in 13+ years that Limbaugh discussed the drug issue.

The discussion was centered around a story that blacks were being disproportinately arrested for drug abuse and "black leaders" wanted the prosecution of blacks to be throttled back. Rush's point was that this is a backwards way of addressing a problem. If one portion of society is being given a free ride on a crime law the answer isn't to stop pursuing prosecution for the portion that is being hit, but to find out why some are given a free ride and rectify it. The focus was not on drugs, but on equal administration of laws. The excerpts are being taken completely out of context.

Rush rarely speaks about drugs. Well, he does now. But before this rehab, he avoided the subject. And it was evident to listeners that this wasn't a subject he wanted to discuss.

[CobaltBlue]

Horse puckey. I most certainly did not break the law. As I carefully stated,

1) 21 U.S.C. 381 d prohibits the reimportation of drugs manufactured in the US and exported. The drugs I have imported are not originally manufactured in the US or Canada, they are generic drugs manufactured in Europe;

2) They are not unapproved;

3) They are not labeled incorrectly;

4) They are dispensed with a valid prescription.

Etc. etc. etc.

[cyncooper]

You expressed exactly what my point was.

Thanks.

[CobaltBlue]

I understand why you started the thread, but I disagree with your premise. It's not an automatic violation of law to import cheaper drugs from Canada.

It's a violation to RE-IMPORT drugs manufactured in the US which were originally exported to Canada.

It's generally a violation to import unapproved drugs except that there are loopholes to this.

It's a violation to import drugs without a valid prescription.

It's a violation to import drugs which appear on a DEA schedule.

Etc. etc. etc. If you dot your "i"s and cross your "t"s, and turn your corners at right angles, you won't violate the law. If Limbaugh did the same, he won't be in trouble, either.

As for the thalidomide argument, what part of "FDA approved" didn't you get?

This reminds me of the clash with the FDA over imported non-pasteurized cheese. They wanted to ban the import of non-pasteurized cheeses, but under pressure from connoisseurs of smelly French cheeses, who have their own lobby, eventually caved and put in loopholes.

Too bad Oxycontin addicts don't have a lobby like us old farts who want cheap prescription drugs. Congress and the FDA will back down before we do.

[CobaltBlue]

I take it you're a libertarian who can't see a difference between a drug that treats a disease and a recreational drug. Heroin, crack cocaine, LSD, ecstasy, bring it on, right?

[Tickled Pink]

Page 1

1

ILLEGAL DRUG IMPORTATION:

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q: I‘ve seen advertisements for pharmacies that sell cheap prescription drugs

imported from Canada. Is that legal?

A: No. Federal law provides that only drug manufacturers may reimport their drugs

from Canada.

1

In addition, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently wrote

that —virtually all drugs imported to the U.S. from Canada by or for individual U.S.

consumers also violate U.S. law“ because —such drugs are unapproved … labeled

incorrectly … and/or dispensed without a valid prescription....“

2

Q: The importing pharmacies‘ websites say the FDA created a —personal use

exception“ that makes it legal for consumers to buy a 90-day supply of

prescription drugs from foreign countries. Is that true?

A: No. These foreign pharmacies are misleading you; there is no —personal use

exception.“ The FDA has said it will not enforce the import prohibition when

consumers with deadly diseases import drugs that are not available in the U.S. But

this FDA enforcement guidance, entitled —Coverage of Personal Importations,“

applies only in extremely limited circumstances where the imported drugs are not

advertised in the U.S. and no treatment for the disease is available in the U.S. This

enforcement guidance specifically states that it does not apply to international mail

order shipments, such as those advertised by Internet pharmacies.

3

Even the drug

imports covered by this FDA enforcement guidance are illegal. The FDA has

explained that —[e]ven if all of the factors noted in the guidance are present, the drugs

remain illegal and FDA may decide that such drugs should be refused entry or

seized.“

4

Q: Didn‘t Congress recently pass a law that legalizes importation of drugs from

other countries?

A: That law never went into effect. The Medicine Equity and Drug Safety Act (known

as the —MEDS Act“) would have allowed importation of prescription drugs only if the

Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services concluded that

importation was safe. Both the present and former Secretaries of HHS œ one a

Republican and the other a Democrat œ concluded that it was impossible to guarantee

the safety of imported drugs. For that reason the MEDS Act never went into effect.

5

Q: Why would the government want to prohibit importation of cheap drugs from

Canada?

A: In a word, safety. Allowing foreign pharmacies to import drugs into the U.S.

dramatically increases the risk of sneaking counterfeit, adulterated and misbranded

drugs across the border. Internet pharmacies may advertise that their drugs come

from Canada, but the truth is you really can‘t know whether those drugs are actually

---

Page 2

2

counterfeits from Vietnam, China, India or some other third-world country. Congress

and the FDA have established and maintained a drug safety net for consumers that is

the best in the world, but that safety net is completely bypassed when drugs are

imported through foreign pharmacies.

Q: Doesn‘t the government assure that these foreign pharmacies are as safe as my

corner drug store?

A: No. Your state board of pharmacy licenses your local community pharmacies and

pharmacists to be sure they provide safe and effective treatment and counseling in

accordance with strict safety standards. But foreign pharmacies that import drugs are

operating without a license from your state board of pharmacy. Those foreign

pharmacies do not comply with your state‘s strict safety laws.

Q: Why do foreign pharmacies insist that I sign a long, confusing waiver form

before I can purchase their foreign drugs?

A: The foreign pharmacies don‘t want to accept the same responsibilities as local

community pharmacies, because they are vulnerable to serious liability. They know

that what they are doing is unsafe and illegal, so they make you promise that you will

never sue them if you are injured by their foreign drugs. They know their foreign

drugs may be adulterated or subpotent, so they make you promise not to return their

drugs for a refund. They also know the U.S. government may seize their illegal drug

shipments at the border, so they force you to agree not to demand a refund if the

drugs never arrive. The forms routinely make you waive many other rights, such as

your right to privacy, your right to consult a qualified pharmacist, your right to child

proof packaging, and any warranties that the drugs are safe and effective. Read the

fine print and you will see how much you lose when you buy drugs from foreign

pharmacies.

Q: Do I face any potential liability for importing drugs?

A: It‘s possible. Anyone can be fined or even imprisoned for violating the federal laws

that prohibit drug importation. For example, anyone who violates the law against

reimporting prescription drugs originally made in the U.S. can be fined up to

$250,000 and imprisoned up to ten years.

6

1

See 21 U.S.C. § 381(d)(1).

2

See letter from FDA‘s William K. Hubbard to The Kullman Firm (Feb. 12, 2003), available at

www.fda.gov/ora/import/kullman.htm (citing 21 U.S.C. §§ 331, 353, 355).

3

See FDA, —Coverage of Personal Importation,“ available at

www.fda.gov/ora/compliance_ref/rpm_new2/ch9pers.html.

4

See FDA Traveler Alert, available at www.fda.gov/ora/import/traveler_alert.htm.

5

See HHS, —Secretary Thompson Determines That Safety Problems Make Drug Reimportation Unfeasible“

(July 10, 2001), available at www.os.dhhs.gov/news/press/2001pres/20010710.html.

6

See 21 U.S.C. §§ 331-33.

Link

[Tickled Pink]

I take it you're a libertarian who can't see a difference between a drug that treats a disease and a recreational drug. Heroin, crack cocaine, LSD, ecstasy, bring it on, right?

All I can think is that you meant to post this to someone else.

I haven't posted anything to give you this impression. On the contrary, I have some sympathy for people who have gotten hooked on prescription medications, as Limbaugh has claimed he did.

[CobaltBlue]

I did my own research in the US code. What the law prohibits, in addition to reimportation of drugs manufactured in the US, is the importation of drugs which are mislabeled, adulterated, misbranded, imported without proper labels and package inserts, unapproved, etc., etc., etc. It's not a blanket prohibition.

When the thread got started, I was led to believe that the law had been changed, but it hasn't. The FDA is trying to scare people from dealing with foreign Internet sites, which may be a good idea. Caveat emptor and all that.

[Alas Babylon!]

difference between a hamster & a gerbil?..there's more dark-meat on a hamster!

Actually, I'll have to disagree with you here. Dark meat is usually found in the back legs, right? And a gerbil, designed for jumping, has much bigger back legs than a hamster. So a gerbil will have more dark meat, and a hamster, well, it looks like a little pig, so it would be the rodent version of the "other WHITE meat".

[thinking]

I have been a continuous fan of Rush for the last 10 years, but have to say; something isn't adding up on this Rush thing....why would a man who makes 25 million per, fool around on the "street" when he can afford to go first class medically...Rush, strikes me as man under extreme stress...the hearing problem, now this revelation.....could there be phone calls in the night, or dead cats on the front lawn???

[Orangedog]

Either way, you have to cook them slow, like in a crock pot.

[Tickled Pink]

I did my own research in the US code. What the law prohibits, in addition to reimportation of drugs manufactured in the US, is the importation of drugs which are mislabeled, adulterated, misbranded, imported without proper labels and package inserts, unapproved, etc., etc., etc. It's not a blanket prohibition.

It is pretty much a blanket prohibition since the FDA only approves US manufactured drugs. (Probably not for any nefarious reasons, but because they just don't have the wherewithal to oversee everyone's product.)

So you are either buying re-imported US drugs or drugs that have not been approved by the FDA. Either way, you are breaking the law.

As to whether it is important, I don't know. But we hear a lot about the dangers of diseases becoming tolerant due to improper medication. Certainly conterfeit drugs won't help that situation.

So it is more than cavaet emptor, since no man in an island when it comes to drug resistent diseases.

[GodBlessUSA]

Thank you for the Ping!

[rwfromkansas]

Wow

[CobaltBlue]

The drug I am talking about was approved by the FDA in 1994.

[Tickled Pink]

The FDA is also charged with approving the plants where these drugs are manufactured. Unless they have done so, the drug is unapproved.

Unless you are yourself a chemist or have access to one, you have no way of knowing whether the drug you are buying is in fact that real deal or some watered down conterfeit.

[CobaltBlue]

Unless you are yourself a chemist or have access to one, you have no way of knowing whether the drug you are buying is in fact that real deal or some watered down conterfeit.

I've already told you that the drug was approved by the FDA, is not manufactured in the US, is not reimported, is not mislabled, is not adulterated, and is not on a DEA schedule, and is sold with proper package inserts. If you can find a citation to the US Code that says that it's not legal for me to buy it from a pharmacy in Europe, please do so. My take on it is that the FDA really, really wishes I wouldn't, but it's not illegal for me to do what I do.

[Tickled Pink]

I realize I'm probably wasting my time, but anyway:

U.S. Moves to Shut Companies Selling Imported Drugs

By Gary Gately
HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Sept. 11 (HealthDayNews) -- Moving to curb the cross-border flow of prescription drugs, the U.S. government asked a judge Thursday to shut down an Oklahoma-based company that sells Canadian drugs at about 80 storefront locations across the Unites States.

The U.S. Justice Department filed suit in U.S. District Court in Tulsa, Okla., seeking an injunction to close Rx Depot Inc. of Tulsa and its sister company, Rx of Canada LLC. The lawsuit came in response to a request from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which said the company is importing drugs that pose a "serious threat to the public health."

"The defendant caused the importation of prescription drugs from Canadian pharmacies, which clearly violates the law and poses significant risk to the public health," the lawsuit said.


Rx Depot, according to an FDA statement, falsely promoted drugs it called "FDA-approved" and "exactly the same as if purchased in the United States." But the FDA said in its March letter that prescription drugs purchased from foreign countries "generally are not FDA-approved, do not meet FDA standards and are not the same as drugs purchased in the United States."

McClellan said the FDA lacks the resources to assure the safety of unapproved drugs imported into the United States.

"Unapproved drugs," he said, "are more likely to be contaminated, counterfeit, contain different amounts of active ingredients or contain different ingredients altogether."

In an unrelated action, the FDA said it had warned some firms to stop sales of an "unapproved, mislabeled" version of the acne drug Accutane. The unnamed companies sold the drug over the Internet without requiring a prescription, the FDA said, and Accutane can cause birth defects and has been linked to possible suicidal thoughts in some patients.

http://www.healthfinder.gov/news/newsstory.asp?docID=515064

The news is chock full of stories about this, such as:

http://www.pharmalive.com/News/index.cfm?articleid=94813&categoryid=27

http://www.nytimes.com/2003/09/30/business/30FAKE.html?ex=1070773200&en=6f19c0046db80d73&ei=5070

But since my original point was that what Roberts is encouraging is in fact illegal, which she and Krischer both admit, your tangent is a bit off the point anway.