A Big Win for ... Counterfeiters and Politicians?

The reimportation movement notched another victory. Customs caved to Congressional pressure and will stop seizing prescriptions sent from Canada. See U.S. to Stop Seizing Canadian Medicine.

This new policy is great news for two groups: (1) the counterfeit drug industry, and (2) politicians up for re-election.

Manufacturers will surely begin monitoring their shipments even more closely in order to allocate available quantities of their products based on actual prescription demand. Very reasonable and a sound supply chain policy.

So where will Canadian pharmacies source their products from? Hopefully not from these guys, but we'll never know for sure, will we? You may recall that Mediplan’s founder would not say where he gets his drugs after the FDA's August warning in August. (See my 9/4 post Our Demand Side Counterfeit Drug Problem.)

By the way, our neighbors up north are not happy either. The Executive Director of the Canadian Pharmacists Association said "We can't afford to be the medicine cabinet for the U.S." (Read this good article from CBC News: Canada shouldn't be 'medicine cabinet' for U.S., pharmacists warn.)

Then again, Canadians don't vote in mid-term elections, unlike the 80% of Americans who favor importation in this Harris/WSJ poll.

Strange days indeed...