National Sheriffs’ Association Urges Caution on the Food and Drug Administration’s Proposed Rulemaking on the Importation of Prescription Drugs
Alexandria, VA – The National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA) issued the following statement today regarding the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Notice of Proposed Rulemaking on the Importation of Prescription Drugs, published by the FDA on December 23, 2019.
NSA applauds the “purpose” of this proposed rule on prescription drugs, which the FDA states “is to lower costs and reduce out of pocket costs for American patients.” However, as NSA has cautioned in the past via a 2017 Resolution,* we have public safety and health concerns about amending Food and Drug Administration regulations that, according to the FDA’s proposed rulemaking, would “allow importation of certain prescription drugs shipped from Canada.”
NSA appreciates that, per the FDA proposal, this rule “shall become effective only if the [Health and Human Services] Secretary certifies to the Congress that the implementation of this section will pose no additional risk to the public’s health and safety.” But, we caution HHS not to finalize this rule as proposed without first inviting, and hearing in-person, the perspectives and concerns of Federal, state, and local law enforcement about: (1) policing the importation of prescription drugs, and (2) the challenges to law enforcement of preventing the infiltration of counterfeit and adulterated medications into the drug supply chain.
NSA will be submitting a formal comment on the proposed rulemaking via the Federal eRulemaking Portal at https://www.regulations.gov by the March 9th deadline.
About the National Sheriffs’ Association:
The National Sheriffs’ Association is one of the largest associations of law enforcement professionals in the U.S., representing more than 3,000 elected Sheriffs across the nation, and with a total membership of more than 14,000. NSA is a non-profit organization dedicated to raising the level of professionalism among Sheriffs, their deputies, and others in the field of law enforcement, public safety, and criminal justice. Throughout its seventy-nine-year history, NSA has also served as an information resource for all law enforcement, as well as State governments and the Federal government.
* National Sheriffs’ Association Opposes Drug Importation Legislation which Jeopardizes Law Enforcement’s Ability to Protect the Public Health and Endangers the Safety of Law Enforcement and Other First Responders. Resolution approved by the NSA Board of Directors on June 27, 2017, at (https://www.sheriffs.org/sites/default/files/Resolution%202017%20-%207%20Drug%20Importation%20June%202017.pdf).
