January 2022 - Newsletter #2

Non-US Online Pharmacies Supplying Americans Affordable Drugs to Be Censored Off the Internet Through Legislation Backed by Big Pharma

Just as Christmas approached, on December 16th, 2021, Senators Marco Rubio (R-FL) and Amy Klobuchar (D-MN) introduced S. 3399, Domain Reform for Unlawful Drug Sellers (DRUGS) Act and on December 30th, 2021, Congressmen David McKinley (R-WV) and Bobby Rush (D-IL) introduced the House of Representatives version of the bill.

These politicians claim the bill is designed to address growing concerns about Americans' online access to opioids and fentanyl. Rubio says, “we need to crack down on bad actors, including those from China, that target our youth and families with the online sales of counterfeit and illicit drugs like fentanyl.” Klobuchar states, “the opioid epidemic is hurting communities across our nation -- none have been immune to its devastating effects.”

Unfortunately, the bill makes no distinction whatsoever between websites selling dangerous and addictive substances, versus those that you -- as a customer of a highly credentialed pharmacy site like NorthWestPharmacy.com which doesn’t sell opioids or controlled substances at all -- know to be a safe, trusted source for your daily medications. Broadly speaking, the bill requires that any website that offers any prescription drugs to U.S. residents must demonstrate that it holds a pharmacy license where it operates and where its patients live -- i.e., in the State you live in. The ultimate result will be that typing our website name into your address bar or search engine (like Google) will yield a dead page and you will no longer be able to access your account or order from us or any other international online pharmacy supplying Americans since only U.S.-based pharmacies can be licensed in the United States.

Addressing the availability of opioids and fentanyl online is an extremely important matter. However, the DRUGS Act targets legitimate licensed pharmacy websites that sell legally manufactured and lower-priced non-narcotic and non-controlled maintenance meds approved by reputable health authorities in other countries. U.S. residents who can’t afford their medications where they live will no longer be able to purchase lower cost medicines from such websites or even find them on the internet at all. If this bill passes, the medications and savings that you get through us will no longer be accessible online to you and millions of other Americans.

Independent research concludes that “credentialed pharmacies sell good medicines, whether they come from the United States or overseas” and that “the medical and economic literature broadly accepts that credentialed pharmacies are safe.” Previous research shows no difference in drug safety when compared to products from U.S. online pharmacies. You know this to be true from your own experience ordering with us.

Who wins from suspending non-U.S. based licensed pharmacies by blocking them from being seen on the internet and eliminating them as lower priced competition? Big Pharma and their national chain drugstore allies! They have been fighting to destroy access to medicines from outside the U.S. for 20 years and use their influence over special interest groups to push their agenda. The Electronic Frontier Foundation has called this activity shadow regulation censorship of the internet.

The special interests backing the DRUGS Act include the Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies, Partnership for Safe Medicines, Pharmaceutical Security Institute, International Federation of Pharmaceutical Wholesalers, which are heavily funded by Big Pharma; and the National Association of Chain Drugstores (NACDS) and National Association of the Boards of Pharmacy (NABP), which seeks to protect the market dominance of its pharmacy members that gouge consumers with high prescription drug prices.

It is ironic that a number of these special interest groups aiming to stop safe and affordable importation of maintenance medicines for conditions such as diabetes, arthritis, COPD, high blood pressure and high cholesterol, represent or take money from the actual purveyors of opioids -- of which the DRUGS Act should be solely focused. In fact, the NABP took $1 million dollars from Purdue Pharma, the maker of the highly addictive opioid painkiller OxyContin. Purdue is attempting to deflect its own fault for launching the opioid crisis by offering a $4 billion settlement with 49 state attorneys general suing the company -- and recently, US chain drugstore members of the NACDS are being found increasingly responsible for fueling the opioid crisis.

If you want to protect your right to access safe and affordable medicines from licensed international online pharmacy websites like NorthWestPharmacy.com, please stand up and tell your elected representatives to stop Big Pharma’s plan to take away your affordable medications and demand they vote against this bill.

The Campaign for Personal Prescription Importation, a US nonprofit that represents individuals like you who order their affordable medications from international online pharmacies, is fighting hard against this bill and they have created a tool which will pre-write and automatically send a letter to your local Senator and Congressperson voicing your opposition to this dystopian bill. Please, take a brief moment to enter your details to send the letter right here.

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