Free Republic

Part 1 of this series revealed that there are gaps in the regulation of drug wholesalers. Prescription medications were and may still be sold as arbitrage. They can be stockpiled and warehoused to reduce supply and raise prices. The unbridled buying and selling of these medications has allowed for the infiltration of unfit, adulterated pharmaceuticals into regulated distribution chains. Part 2 focused on the implications of a substantial part of the FDA’s budget being financed by user fees paid by the pharmaceutical industry. This could explain why the amount of time that a medication is approved has been cut in...

The Penobscot Indian Nation will be opening Maine’s first mail-order drug company this spring as part of a state plan to reduce the cost of prescription medicines – a plan that has some drug store owners worried because it could cut them out of the picture. Plans also are in the works to create a public purchasers pool – including state employees and public school teachers – where the state would negotiate for the cheapest drug prices from pharmaceutical houses. Public employees would not be ordered to get their drugs in the mail; the incentive to do so exists in...