The Wall Street Journal reports that “Under pressure from Congress, U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials scrapped their 11-month-old policy of seizing prescription drugs imported through the mail from Canada.â€
When politics trumps public health (not to mention outright security issues) we are heading down a slippery slope. Attention must be paid.
And shame on Senator Bill Nelson (D, FL) – a member (can you believe this!) of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs – who was “investigating†the new Customs policy.
"This is a huge victory," Mr. Nelson said. "For nearly a year, the White House has been punishing seniors for filling their prescriptions at lower Canadian prices. Now it looks like the government is getting out of the business of harassing these consumers."
It’s a victory all right. A victory for profiteers masquerading as pharmacists. A victory for terrorists and smugglers who now have a brightly lit path for their nefarious schemes. And a victory for prescription drug counterfeiters who now need only a Canadian address to infiltrate the medicine chests of America.
Dan McLaughlin, a spokesman for Mr. Nelson, said the senator believes the seizures were politically motivated to bolster enrollments in Medicare Part D.
Note to Mr. McLaughlin -- didn’t the AARP say that American seniors get better deals on their medicines via Medicare Part D? (Answer – yes, they did.)
When politics trumps public health (not to mention outright security issues) we are heading down a slippery slope. Attention must be paid.
And shame on Senator Bill Nelson (D, FL) – a member (can you believe this!) of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Government Affairs – who was “investigating†the new Customs policy.
"This is a huge victory," Mr. Nelson said. "For nearly a year, the White House has been punishing seniors for filling their prescriptions at lower Canadian prices. Now it looks like the government is getting out of the business of harassing these consumers."
It’s a victory all right. A victory for profiteers masquerading as pharmacists. A victory for terrorists and smugglers who now have a brightly lit path for their nefarious schemes. And a victory for prescription drug counterfeiters who now need only a Canadian address to infiltrate the medicine chests of America.
Dan McLaughlin, a spokesman for Mr. Nelson, said the senator believes the seizures were politically motivated to bolster enrollments in Medicare Part D.
Note to Mr. McLaughlin -- didn’t the AARP say that American seniors get better deals on their medicines via Medicare Part D? (Answer – yes, they did.)
