FDA to Destroy Illegal Drugs Arriving in the US by Mail

Internet pharmacies, mostly located outside of the US borders, are often used by consumers to import drugs into the country illegally. Most of such shipments, which arrive primarily by international mail, are mislabeled as other innocuous things such as dietary supplements, food and cosmetics. And often they are caught at the US customs. Every year the US customs catches about 15000 such mails mostly containing small amounts of drugs for individual users. However, once caught by customs, under the law so far, the shipments were sent back to the country of origin and most of the times these shipments were sent right back. The senders hoped that they could slip through the cracks simply my sending it back again and again till it eventually clears customs. To avoid this cat and mouse game, FDA published a new rule whereby drugs caught by the customs will be destroyed rather than sending back. Before destroying such drugs, FDA would need to be sure that there are clear cases of adulterated, misbranded, or is an unapproved drug. Also the shipment must be valued at less than $2500. In case there is doubt about the products being compliant or if the shipment is valued at higher than $2500. This law covers almost all mailed drugs intended for individual consumers/patients. In making the announcement FDA claimed that this law will protect people from illegal drug shipments that could potentially harm them. This law only covers a small fraction of shipments arriving in the US by mail. By FDA estimates, more than 80% of international mails of this kind are suspect. The issue of controlling such mails has been in debate since at least the last 20 years. This measure is long overdue; however, its impact may be minimal on the overall illegal international mail pharmacies.