“This is a Penny-Wise, Pill-Foolish Plan,” Schatz says

(Washington, D.C.)—Citizens Against Government Waste (CAGW) today criticized Springfield 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 elected officials in other states, is exploring drug reimportation as a fix for 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,” CAGW President Tom Schatz said.  “It only takes one tainted batch of pills to offset all the supposed 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 Food and Drug Administration 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,” Schatz continued.  “Unfortunately, the long-term cost and health implications make today’s purported savings 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 articles 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 of reimportation 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.”

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