OVER-THE-BORDER PRESCRIPTION DRUG ISSUES.   Term Paper ID:28722 Click to get this paper

Essay Subject: Discusses reasons for cross-border traffic in medications from Mexico to U.S. Incl. High cost of drugs in U.S., lack of health insurance. Cites specific drugs. Dangers of banned or restrictive medications. Difficulties controlling drug traffic.... More...

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Paper Abstract: Discusses reasons for cross-border traffic in medications from Mexico to U.S. Incl. High cost of drugs in U.S., lack of health insurance. Cites specific drugs. Dangers of banned or restrictive medications. Difficulties controlling drug traffic. Paper Introduction: Every day, large quantities of prescription drugs are brought over the border into the United States from Mexico by ordinary Americans who cannot afford skyrocketing prices at home (Moffat, 1992). They are senior citizens who go to Mexico regularly to buy medications for such problems as high blood pressure, asthma, arthritis and many other common ailments at a tenth of the cost they pay here in the United States for identical or virtually identical drugs. For years, desperate Americans have flocked south of the border seeking cures for ailments for which there is no cure here, such as Laetrile for cancer and a variety of drugs to treat AIDS which are not yet approved in the U. S. Now economic factors are driving them south for drugs which are available here, but which they cannot afford. The asthma drug, Ventolin, costs Text of the Paper: The entire text of the paper is shown below. However, the text is somewhat scrambled. We want to give you as much information as we possibly can about our papers and essays, but we cannot give them away for free. In the text below you will find that while disordered, many of the phrases are essentially intact. From this text you will be able to get a solid sense of the writing style, the concepts addressed, and the sources used in the research paper. Now economic factors are driving them south fordrugs which are available here, but which they cannot afford. S. S. It is estimated that drug costs for the top 5 medications in the United States went up at more than double the previousyear=s inflation rate in 1996 (Garcia, 1996). Even the drug=s U. With such vast stretches of border with Mexico, so many peoplecrossing back and forth each day, and a limited number of Customs agents,it is impossible to monitor the amount of drugs crossing the border eachday. Among the most common drug seized is a banned painkiller that cancause a deadly blood disease, highly toxic antibiotics, and a Mexicanarthritis drug that can upset the normal balance of the adrenal gland(Weber, 1999). Mevacor, an anti-cholesterol drug, costs about 2 times as much per hundred in Los Angeles, as it does in Tijuana. doctors even recommend that their patients go toMexico for their medications, as long as they can get the same ones theyget here. S. Apart from what is brought in legally, there is no way to estimatewhat is brought in illegally, either for personal use, or for resale on theblack market. Every day, large quantities of prescription drugs are brought over theborder into the United States from Mexico by ordinary Americans who cannotafford skyrocketing prices at home (Moffat, 1992). Moffat, S. Border agents at theSan Clemente checkpoint confiscated 1, 46 tablets of Viagra from a Japanesetourist who bought them in Tijuana earlier. Drugs which have gone up the most are diuretics used totreat high blood pressure and anti-depressants, both commonly used by theelderly who often can least afford exorbitant prices. Drug buyers find Mexico is a bargain.USA Today, p. S. A tube which sold for$35 in the U. Thelargest single group was young males, and 14 of the top 15 declared drugswere controlled substances domestically. Viagra can be purchased inMexico without a prescription. S.doctors are not prepared to pay. medicine and doctors, ordon=t have health insurance, so buy familiar medicines at these illicitpharmacies, usually unaware of the risks they are taking. None of the medications wereaccompanied by any dosage information. S., 284,13 tablets), Tenuate Dospan (111, 6 tablets), and Asenlix (a stimulant, notFDA approved, 92,76 tablets). To them, it isno more risky than what they were doing at home in Mexico. A concerted governmenteffort to provide affordable prescription benefits for all may be the onlyanswer. For tourists in Mexico, drugs of choiceinclude cut-rate Tagamet, Prozac. Many drugs sold in Mexico are made by subsidiaries of U. In Mexico, no one is warned ofpossible drug complications, and if children die, no one thinks to blamethe drugs they were given. A recent addition to the over-the-border prescription drug buying hasbeen Viagra, the male potency pill (Garcia, 1998). (Streff, 1994).Mexico mandates the price that companies - Mexican, European or U. Also, with few exceptions, Mexicanpharmacists do not attend graduate school or undergo formal training. In America, chloramphenicol is usedonly as a last resort. Whenthey have built up a sufficient Astash@ on this side of the border, it istransported to unlicensed clinics, markets and swap meets patronized mostlyby Latino immigrants. On average, drugs can be bought in Mexico forless than one-third what they cost in the United States. druggists pay for it wholesale. Drug Topics, 141, pp. An American pharmacist can go overwith a patient all the medications they are taking, make sure there will beno adverse interactions or negative side effects, and recommend when apatient should discuss their medication with their doctor: this issomething they can=t get in Mexico. (1995, August). The availability of low-priced drugs across the border, and the easewith which they can be brought into the United States are not without theirproblems (Conlan, 1997). Lethal drug trade: Unsafe medicines fromMexico. The information is not as readily available asit is here in the United States, even for physicians, say Mexican doctors.Dipyrone, known as Mexican aspirin, continues to be used by Mexicansbecause it has been sold and promoted for a long time. Weber, T. market in 1977 because it can destroy thebody=s ability to fight even minor infections. Orange County Register, p. Americandruggists lose out to their Tijuana counterparts, and many of their localcustomers only buy from them when they don=t have the time to make thejourney to Mexico. It can causebone marrow depression, and people take it in Mexico for a strep throat,not realizing the harm it is doing, catch another infection because of thesuppressed bone marrow, and die without realizing why. Often people become ill without anyone knowing why orconnecting the problem to the drugs. (1993, June). For years, desperate Americans have flocked south of the borderseeking cures for ailments for which there is no cure here, such asLaetrile for cancer and a variety of drugs to treat AIDS which are not yetapproved in the U. 42-54. But some caution that patients get a lot more from an Americanpharmacist than from one in Mexico. Even if the activeingredient in a drug is identical to a substance approved in the UnitedStates, the inert materials used to make up the pill may be different inMexican formulations, leading to different effects in the body which may bedangerous. S. Smugglers known as Aratpackers@ make many trips a day over the border,unnoticed, carrying small amounts of these drugs inside aspirin bottles,clothing etc., so as not to draw attention from Customs officials. The United Statesdoes not. Prescription drugs at bargain pricesacross the border. (1996, March). 1. These are oftenmedications which are banned or highly restricted in the United States, andare smuggled in from Mexico, where they are available without restriction,and peddled out of stores and at swap meets across southern California.They are potentially dangerous drugs, sold by multinational pharmaceuticalcompanies in Mexico, where regulations and enforcement are less stringentthan in the United States. Latino immigrants also bring back thesemedications legally, because they feel more comfortable using medicationswith which they are familiar. (1998, July). S. S. Since all tourists need to bringdrugs back into the United States legally is a doctor=s prescription, thereare many over the border ready to supply them, and the drugs to go alongwith them. (1997). As long as the market is there, the drugs will continue tocome here, and as long as medications are so much cheaper in Mexico thanthey are here, those with limited incomes or no health insurance willcontinue to go to Mexico for their medication needs. The five most common imports in the morerecent study were Valium (928, tablets), Rohypnol (a sedative/hypnotic,banned domestically, 338,76 tablets), Tafil (Xanax in the U. The exception is if the Food and DrugAdministration (FDA) has labeled a drug as dangerous and asked Customs tostop its entry. Hordes of pharmaceutical >ratpackers= plythe border. Los Angeles Times, p. Newest border patrol contraband isViagra. The Los Angeles RegionalDrug and Poison Center gets as many as 6 calls a day from Los Angelesdoctors asking about foreign versions of prescription drugs that theirpatients have brought back, mostly from Mexico. While U. The drug was discovered when passengers ina car acted nervous, prompting agents to search the car. Since there is very little attention paid at the border topharmaceutical drugs, where the emphasis is on illicit drugs such ascocaine, marijuana and metamphetamines, it is easy to bring in quantitiesof banned drugs large enough to keep the back-room pharmacies in theHispanic neighborhoods of southern California well-stocked, and with aready-made clientele eager and waiting, their habits already established intheir homeland, this kind of drug smuggling is difficult to fight (Reza,1999). E. LosAngeles Times, p. The back-room drugstores function as the northernequivalent of the Mexican farmacias, selling popular medications banned orrestricted in the united States. The word seemed to have got outthat if you declare controlled substances, Customs lets you through, but ifyou don=t declare them, and get caught, it=s a violation. S. Though it is nota violation of customs law to possess that quantity of tablets, the manbroke U. Users develop all the symptoms of Cushing=s disease, and requireweeks of hospitalization to recover from the toxic side effects of thisdrug. The survey checked more than 6,5 random drug declarations filedat the Laredo crossing between June 1994 and June 1996 and found that overhalf of the declarations were filed by people under the age of 4 . Often tourists crossing the border are met by middlemen who try tosteer them to pharmacies, or to Adoctors@ who will write them prescriptionsfor anything they want (Hayward, 1995). X. They are seniorcitizens who go to Mexico regularly to buy medications for such problems ashigh blood pressure, asthma, arthritis and many other common ailments at atenth of the cost they pay here in the United States for identical orvirtually identical drugs. While pharmacists in border areas have complained for years aboutlosing sales of treatments for cardiovascular problems, ulcers andinfections to Mexico, a survey in 1996 based on a random sample of U. 3A. 3. Garcia, G. is price controls - a hotly debated issuesurrounding current health care reform plans in the U. S.Customs declarations at the Laredo, Texas border crossing showed thatAmerican were shopping in Mexico for controlled substances -sedative/hypnotic agents, anti-anxiety drugs, stimulants, and narcoticanalgesics (Gebhart, 1996). (1994, February). S. Cases in point are the 15- and 16-year-old ElPaso girls gang-raped after using Rohypnol, and the growth of drug-resistant tuberculosis along the border, fed in part by widespread self-treatment of a variety of illnesses with over-the-counter antibiotics fromMexico. No U. F. Tourists are ushered to Adoctor=s@ offices complete withwaiting rooms, diplomas on the walls, nurses ready to write outprescriptions for the doctor, and runners to guide them to the nearestpharmacy. citizens are allowed to bring backa reasonable amount of prescription drugs for personal consumption, thedrugs must be covered by a prescription that is valid in the country oforigin. It is the most commonmedication found in back-room shops here. All are subject to widespread abuse.Extrapolating from the 84 days tabulated, the estimates of drugs declaredduring the study period are a staggering 4 million Valium tablets, 1.5million Rohypnol tablets, and 1.2 million Tafil tablets. He indicated to agents that he had planned to resell thetablets in Japan. 1. Gebhart, F. (1999, May). Lower drug prices send many south. At a Costa Mesa swap meet, tablets and a liquid form of Neo-Melubrina,Mexico=s most popular brand of dipyrone, was found on sale, along withpenicillin cream and capsules. orEuropean companies, who say their quality standards are the same throughoutthe world, and others sold in Mexico may be made in Europe or the UnitedStates (Moffat, 1992). - cancharge for prescription drugs sold within its borders. Food and Drug Administration Law because he did not have aprescription for the medication. Dipyrone has been banned orwithdrawn in at least 22 countries and severely restricted in nine others.Sweden which had allowed it back on the market for three years, banned itagain after it was linked to a high incidence of blood diseases. Many products are less expensive in Mexico because of currencyfluctuations, differences in intellectual property laws, differentpackaging requirements and labor costs. Thedrug was taken off the U. While prices remainprohibitively high for many in the U. (1999, May). S., this cross-border traffic inmedications, and even illicit drugs, will continue. 1 8. What ismost disturbing is that safe, cheap alternatives such as aspirin, ibuprofenand Tylenol are readily available. S. Doctors believe the painkiller,dipyrone, has caused the deaths of children in California and Texas. S. 4. Only the penicillin capsules included awarning about a possible allergic reaction. It is used to battle such seriousinfections as typhoid fever and Rocky Mountain spotted fever. Hayward, S. One reason put forth for the dramatically lower prices of medicationsin Mexico than in the U. The FDA had expressed concern over several health risks associatedwith purchasing foreign-made medications, including the lack of assurancesabout their identity, potency, purity, and stability. 1. Immigrants are often skeptical of U. Another drug popular among Mexicans here is Artridol, an arthritisdrug which is a steroid and can cause adrenal shutdown and weaken thebones. Streff, S. Drug Topics, 14 , p. There is another side to the over-the-border drug issue, and thatis drugs brought into the country and sold in back-room shops to Latinoimmigrants - dangerous remedies which often have fatal side effects andwhich carry no warnings in the packages (Weber, 1999). 1. A spokesman for Merck says that Vasotec and Pepcid,two drugs often purchased in Mexico by Americans, are manufactured by aMerck joint venture in Mexico, and are basically the same product as in theUnited States, noting that the raw materials for the drugs made in Mexicoare often imported from the United States. S. The antibiotic chloramphenicol is also widely sold in the back-roomshops, in the form of capsules, eye ointments, eardrops, and in glassampules ready to inject (Weber, 1999). Border study raises more questions on narcotics. Earlier studiesindicated that about 25 percent of U. (Nasser, 1993). Border pharmacy. Los Angeles Times, p. Many U. S. S. Nasser, H. S. Orange County Register, p. Retin-A,an acne and anti-wrinkle medication, can be bought in Tijuana retail storesfor less than U. Garcia, G. (1996). a. (1992, November). The tablets were confiscated, but the manwas not charged. may be bearing a disproportionate share of thesecosts while citizens of other countries get both the benefits of theresearch and lower prices. Flocking to Tijuana for cheapermedicine. Los Angeles Times, p. References Conlan, M. Dangerous interactions between drugs may occur if a patientbuys some of his/her medication in the United States and some in Mexico. Reza, H. S. Also, research and developmentmake up the bulk of drug costs, which pharmaceutical makers argue arejustified by the enormous cost and high risk involved in drug research, andcitizens in the U. G. X. S. The asthmadrug, Ventolin, costs almost 1 times as much in Los Angeles for a few dayssupply, as it does in Tijuana, and border crossers bring back 1 boxes ata time (Moffat, 1992). tourists visiting Mexico buy drugproducts, and pharmacists in border areas estimate that about a quarter oftheir patients buy drugs in Mexico, but both studies suggest thatcardiovascular, ulcer, antibiotic, and antifungal agents are the mostcommon purchases (Gebhart, 1996). It can causeserious and fatal blood disease, and is used only when less potentiallydangerous agents are ineffective, and must not be used to treat trivialinfections such as influenza, colds, throat infections, etc. Mostlearn their profession from more experienced co-workers and study thePhysicians Desk Reference to determine a drug=s chemical composition andstrength (Garcia, 1996). Some legitimate doctors are often willing to sell prescriptionswithout a consultation: even dentists will write prescriptions that in theUnited States only a doctor could write. 1. a. Many Americans buy theirdrugs in Mexico because they cannot afford health insurance, or are onfixed incomes. Bringing prescription medications across the border from Mexico forpersonal use - up to a six-month supply - is legal, as long as it isdeclared, says Moffat. It is good forpain, and excellent for fever, but it exacts a high price, one which U. in 1993 could be bought for $5 in Tijuana; Zantac andTagamet, medications for ulcers, cost one-quarter as much in Mexico as inthe U. agency keeps track of the entry of legalprescription drugs, and no one generally looks at the amount of these drugspeople bring across the border (Garcia, 1996). marketer acknowledges it hasserious risks associated with its use. Los Angeles Times, p. 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