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CNN Live At Daybreak
Mailed Medicine: Random Drug Checks
Aired November 28, 2003 - 06:52 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Americans will spend more than a billion dollars this year on cheaper prescription drugs from Canada. The lower prices, however, come with a warning from the FDA that the drugs may not be safe. To ensure safety, the government says random checks are necessary, but they may come at a greater cost to consumers.
We get more from Christine Miles of CNN affiliate KOIN.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE MILES, KOIN TV-REPORTER (voice-over): Retired teacher Frank Luizzi depends on Lipitor to control his cholesterol.
FRANK LUIZZI, RETIRED TEACHER: I've got a little bit left on it.
MILES: He's been ordering it from a Canadian pharmacy for the last several years.
LUIZZI: There's 180 bucks. It's -- in the United States it's $240.
MILES: Instead of a new supply of his medication showing up in his mailbox, he got this letter from the Food and Drug Administration. Luizzi's medication had been confiscated.
LUIZZI: I was ticked off. I was -- I thought, my God, you know, this -- I had been getting this drug for five, six years.
MILES: According to the letter from the FDA, his package was randomly checked, and they found his drugs did not meet FDA standards.
LUIZZI: This drug has not been approved by the FDA, and you see it advertised on TV for the last two years about Lipitor, Lipitor, Lipitor.
MILES: If a drug is being shipped in from another country, it must be checked by the FDA before entering the United States. The director of Oregon state's Board of Pharmacy says that procedure isn't always followed by manufacturers.
GARY SCHNABEL, OREGON BOARD OF PHARMACY: Once that drug has left the country, even if it's an FDA approved product, once it's left the country, the FDA is saying they can't guarantee the safety or the condition of the product when it comes back in.
MILES: The FDA is doing more random checks on prescription drug packages.
SCHNABEL: So then they are testing the drug to see if they are labeled properly or they actually are what they say they are.
MILES: If medications were more affordable in the United States, Luizzi says he wouldn't go to another country to get what he needs to enjoy a happy, healthy life.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CALLAWAY: That report was from Christine Miles from CNN affiliate KOIN.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired November 28, 2003 - 06:52 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CATHERINE CALLAWAY, CNN ANCHOR: Americans will spend more than a billion dollars this year on cheaper prescription drugs from Canada. The lower prices, however, come with a warning from the FDA that the drugs may not be safe. To ensure safety, the government says random checks are necessary, but they may come at a greater cost to consumers.
We get more from Christine Miles of CNN affiliate KOIN.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
CHRISTINE MILES, KOIN TV-REPORTER (voice-over): Retired teacher Frank Luizzi depends on Lipitor to control his cholesterol.
FRANK LUIZZI, RETIRED TEACHER: I've got a little bit left on it.
MILES: He's been ordering it from a Canadian pharmacy for the last several years.
LUIZZI: There's 180 bucks. It's -- in the United States it's $240.
MILES: Instead of a new supply of his medication showing up in his mailbox, he got this letter from the Food and Drug Administration. Luizzi's medication had been confiscated.
LUIZZI: I was ticked off. I was -- I thought, my God, you know, this -- I had been getting this drug for five, six years.
MILES: According to the letter from the FDA, his package was randomly checked, and they found his drugs did not meet FDA standards.
LUIZZI: This drug has not been approved by the FDA, and you see it advertised on TV for the last two years about Lipitor, Lipitor, Lipitor.
MILES: If a drug is being shipped in from another country, it must be checked by the FDA before entering the United States. The director of Oregon state's Board of Pharmacy says that procedure isn't always followed by manufacturers.
GARY SCHNABEL, OREGON BOARD OF PHARMACY: Once that drug has left the country, even if it's an FDA approved product, once it's left the country, the FDA is saying they can't guarantee the safety or the condition of the product when it comes back in.
MILES: The FDA is doing more random checks on prescription drug packages.
SCHNABEL: So then they are testing the drug to see if they are labeled properly or they actually are what they say they are.
MILES: If medications were more affordable in the United States, Luizzi says he wouldn't go to another country to get what he needs to enjoy a happy, healthy life.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
CALLAWAY: That report was from Christine Miles from CNN affiliate KOIN.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
