“Unsafe Pharmaceuticals Create Enormous Liability for Taxpayers,” Schatz says 

(Washington, D.C.)―The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste (CCAGW) today criticized Springfield, Mass. Mayor Mike Albano for his efforts to provide local government employees with prescription drugs and other medical supplies from Canada.  Mayor Albano, along with a handful of other elected officials, is exploring drug reimportation as a fix for Springfield’s budget woes. 

“Mayor Albano is so focused on short-term budget savings that he has virtually ignored the fact that reimportation would expose the city of Springfield to enormous liability risks,” CAGW President Tom Schatz said.  “It only takes one tainted batch of pills to offset all the savings of Albano’s program.”

To encourage consumption of foreign drugs, Albano’s plan would increase co-payments for U.S. drugs while eliminating them for Canadian drugs.  The Canadian government has told the U.S. that it cannot ensure the safety or efficacy of drugs shipped to the United States, and the FDA does not have the authority or resources to do so.

“In the short run, obtaining medicines from across the border may have a small positive impact on the budgets of cash-strapped cities.  Unfortunately, the long-term cost implications make the savings today pale in comparison.” 

The Washington Post recently completed a five-part series documenting many of the hazards of purchasing prescriptions drugs in the pharmaceutical underworld.  The series depicted terminally ill patients dying from watered down drugs and doctors prescribing pain-killing medication to patients they’ve not evaluated.  Incidents of fraud, counterfeiting, and other illegal schemes are not uncommon. 

 “The dangers are a clear reminder that not all ideas to save taxpayer money are wise.” Schatz concluded.  “Rolling the dice with taxpayer money and employees’ health and safety is a penny-wise, pill-foolish approach to solving local budget problems.”

The Council for Citizens Against Government Waste is the lobbying arm of Citizens Against Government Waste, the nation's largest nonpartisan, nonprofit organization dedicated to eliminating waste, fraud, abuse, and mismanagement in government.