In the United States, the prices of prescription drugs have gone up, and the president has vowed to take action. Gradually, the push to allow Americans to buy drugs from pharmacies outside United States have received boost. The Congress is about to amend the law, that would change the safety measures, and eliminate the barrier that has barred Americans from buying medicine outside (Schoonveld, 2015). Although the same could have been passed in 2003, the law required that the Health and Human Service secretary had to ensure that the foreign drugs did not exposé the public from drug-related risks. In the following discussion, the focus will be on arguments for and against importing foreign drug prescriptions, and relationships between research and negative externalities, positive externalities, and public goods.
Arguments for Allowing Importation of Foreign Prescription Drugs
Numerous arguments have been propagated to allow for importation of foreign prescription drugs. Firstly, foreign prescriptions are inexpensive, the reason why most Americans prefer Canadian drugs. Americans can use the Internet or board a bus north, in a bid to reduce their costs of medication (Schoonveld, 2015). Those supporting drug importation argue that, those raising the issue of public safety are simply exaggerating issues. With implementation of proper precautions, the safety concerns would be suppressed.
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Notably, most drugs manufactured outside the United States have the required safety standards, and they are stocked in pharmacies. The FDA has already permitted importation, considering that, 40% of the medications people buy within United States are made from outside, and 80% of the ingredients used to manufacture drugs are sourced from foreign countries (Schoonveld, 2015). According to the FDA, they have conducted oversight on the foreign medications. However, even if the FDA failed to conduct oversight, the drugs would still be use for humans.
The consumers should be guided towards choosing the approved pharmacies and ways of identifying the rogue ones. If the consumer were to obtain the drugs from the pharmacists with the right credentials, they will end up getting effective and safe medication. Consumers can use platforms such as PharmacyChecker.com to determine the online pharmacies that have met safety standards (Cohen, 2015).
The Arguments against the Importation of Prescription Drugs
Opponents of the importation of prescription drugs argue that, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will be unable to ensure public safety or the effectiveness of drugs coming from foreign nations. Most drugs that people used to source from Canada are no longer safe. FDA has revealed that, most drugs manufactured in Canada are no longer safe as they used to be (Cohen, 2015). Prescription drugs are against the spirit of free trade. They tend to promote competition, as opposed to boosting new investment and innovation. Whenever importation is permitted, it undermines investment in discovering new drugs. For that reason, importing prescription drugs should be disallowed and discouraged.
Relationship between the Research and Negative Externalities, Positive Externalities, and Public Goods
The research on foreign prescription drugs reveal that, it is a negative externality because it affects the health of US citizens negatively (Mesquita, 2016). In the same vein, most of the drugs produced will lack market, as most consumers will prefer to seek the same online from outside the United States. In relation to positive externality, foreign prescription will ensure improved health among the United States citizens (Mesquita, 2016). Research has indicated that, most people opt to forego medication because they cannot afford the high costs of drugs within the US borders. By allowing them to get the same from outside, they will improve their quality of life, and standards of living will improve. From a public good perspective, foreign drugs should be made available to the citizens and they should not be put under limitation. After all, when people go for foreign drugs, they do not cause shortage of the same in the foreign country (Mesquita, 2016).
References
Cohen, I. G. (2015). Patients with Passports: Medical Tourism, Law, and Ethics. New York, NY: Oxford University Press
Mesquita, E. B. (2016). Political Economy for Public Policy. New York, NY: Princeton University Press
Schoonveld, E. (2015). The Price of Global Health: Drug Pricing Strategies to Balance Patient Access and the Funding of Innovation. 2 nd Ed. New York, NY: Gower Publishing, Ltd.
