Congress, say ‘No’ to DRUGS Act

Americans are struggling to afford the highest drug prices in the world. Now, at the behest of Big Pharma front groups,

Sens. Amy Klobuchar and Marco Rubio introduced the DRUGS Act, a bill that would rob millions of Americans of critical daily medicines.

I depend on online Canadian pharmacies to afford my medication, which costs two or three times as much at American pharmacies. If the DRUGS Act passes, the medications and savings I get through these pharmacies will no longer be accessible.

The Big Pharma special interests supporting the DRUGS Act claim the bill would address illegal sales of opioids online; however, the bill fails to even mention the words opioids or fentanyl. Instead, it targets “non-domestic” pharmacies. These licensed international pharmacies that millions of Americans depend on for safe and affordable drugs require valid prescriptions and don’t sell controlled substances.

Big Pharma groups backing the DRUGS Act habitually and shamelessly exploit the opioid crisis to attack prescription importation.

The special interests endorsing this legislation include the Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies (ASOP), Partnership for Safe Medicines (PSM) and National Association of the Boards of Pharmacy (NABP). These organizations are funded by the biggest pharmaceutical companies — AstraZeneca, Merck, Pfizer and others, including Purdue, maker of the highly addictive opioid painkiller OxyContin.

Most appalling, one endorser took $1 million from Purdue Pharma.

Americans like me are in critical need of access to affordable prescription drugs, now more than ever. Our representatives and senators should say no to the DRUGS Act.