FDA seizing imported pharmaceuticals

If you planned on saving money by ordering your prescriptions from Canada or somewhere else outside U.S. borders—or even if you’ve been doing that for some time—make sure you have a backup plan. In its quest to crack down on prohibited opiate deliveries and combat the opioid epidemic, the Food and Drug Administration under the Trump administration is seizing not just opioids but many other medications ordered by individuals who are just trying to save money on their prescriptions.

That’s according to reporting from Tarbell, which says that it’s not only a matter of people trying to save money; some of the drugs are no longer made in the U.S. and patients’ only alternative is to order them from outside the country.

Related: To curb drug costs, states look north

Tarbell reporter Michael McAuliff cites the case of an 85-year-old New Jersey retiree named Francis Donnelly who takes Asacol, a drug he’s taken for decades to treat Crohn’s disease and ulcerative colitis that is no longer made int eh United States. But his latest shipment had been intercepted by the FDA.

The crackdown by the FDA began last October, sinking money and resources into efforts to intercept packages at the nine U.S. international mail facilities. And it’s been very energetic about the crackdown, intercepting 10,231 packages of drugs in FY 2017. This year, it intends to hit 40,000, with an eventual goal 100,000 annually. The FDA either destroys the intercepted drugs or returns them to the sender—which leaves people with legitimate drug orders up the creek.

In March FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb told Congress that the agency “needs more authority to seize and destroy suspect packages,” according to a report from the Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society.

The authority would extend beyond opioids, according to Tarbell, into the realm typically governed by the Drug Enforcement Administration. It would also be getting a boost from an extra $94 million in March’s government spendign bill, which did not limit the funding just to opioid tracking.

What about the U.S. storefronts that help consumers access safe drug sources overseas? They’re getting raided. And it’s all over legitimate drugs that treat a range of conditions including asthma, blood pressure, multiple sclerosis, and diabetes, among others. In fact, says the report, the FDA has even sent armed agents to a retiree’s home to warn him if he didn’t stop ordering less expensive medication, he could be “arrested and prosecuted.” Oh, and bank accounts for businesses that process the orders are being closed. Banks don’t provide reasons for the closures.

So it’s liable to get a lot tougher—and more expensive—for people to get their medications. Donnelly, asked what he would do if he can’t get or afford his medication, told Tarbell, “I guess I would probably start bleeding in my intestines. What could I do about it? If I can’t get the medication to keep my ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease in check, then I’d have an uprising … and then I would die.”