Greetings from the land of retirement, oh five loyal readers I have left! Things sure are different for the Drugmonkey these days! Instead of slogging it out with you guys through "I don't have a deductible!" month, I've been working on my chess game. No longer bothered with the payables and receivables, I am happy to report that people not fortunate enough to have an internet connection have a chance to hear my words, as I have been spewing my ham radio signals to the far corners of the earth. I also spend a lot of time these days discussing with Mrs. Drugmonkey where the home thermostat should be set. It is retirement after all.
I see some things in the old pharmacy world haven't changed though. The forces that control the profession continue to come up with new and innovative ways to screw the average pharmacist. I love how the DIR fee "reform" that came with the new year comes with a major cash crunch for every business that tries to fill a prescription. The voice that claims to speak for you pill chuckers though, The American Pharmacists Association, is on the case, whipping lawmakers into shape to address this DIR crisis before it spells the end of every non-CVS pharmacy in the country.
BBBBWWWAAAHHHAAAA I kill me. APhA is the same pack of dolts they've always been.
I say this as I see in this morning's email the source of APhA's "dismay." Namely, a program approved by the FDA that allows the state of Florida to import prescription drugs from our Canadian friends to the north.
Or maybe they're not our friends, because friends wouldn't be trying TO POISON US, as the APhA seems to stop just short of claiming. Here's the beginning of today's press release:
The American Pharmacists Association (APhA) is dismayed that FDA gave the green light to Florida to import prescription drugs from Canada, jeopardizing patient safety and compromising our nations' drug supply. FDA’s authorization of the State of Florida’s Section 804 Importation Program does not address significant concerns that create vulnerabilities for the introduction of counterfeit and unsafe drugs into the marketplace.
Jeopardizing patient safety and compromising our nation’s drug supply. Really......which is why you are always warned never to drink the water when you vacation in Canada, as it's a country incapable of delivering basic health and safety measures to protect its citizens from all manner of poisons.
Hold on, I'm being told now that Flint, Michigan, and Jackson, Mississippi are actually cities in the United States. Anyway, I'm sure APhA knows what they're talking about when they say it is Canadian health and safety standards you need to be afraid of.
So does APhA go on to say that the savings generated by this risky scheme simply aren't worth the death and destruction sure to follow? No, they actually say something even stupider:
“This importation program frustrates reason by undercutting our nation’s drug supply chain integrity and patient safety in exchange for little or no cost savings,” said Ilisa Bernstein, PharmD, JD, FAPhA, APhA Senior Vice President of Pharmacy Practice and Government Affairs.
She actually said that. That if you buy drugs from Canada you will get "little or no cost savings." So I guess when Bernie Sanders used to organize trips to Canada for his constituents to fill prescriptions, they were really just going to admire the fall foliage and eat some poutine, and that the multitude of Canadian pharmacies doing a brisk business selling prescriptions to Americans are there simply because we like to subsidize the Canadian Post Office. My God, has this woman ever been to Canada? Probably not, as she evidently is afraid of being poisoned.
By the way, has anyone even asked the Canadians what they think about selling their drugs to the United States? Yes, they have as a matter of fact, and it turns out the Canadians aren't too thrilled about it:
Canada’s pharmaceutical industry also expressed concern with the FDA approval on Friday. Innovative Medicines Canada, the industry’s national lobby group, said it will work with Health Canada to “safeguard” the country’s drug supplies.
“Canada simply can’t supply drugs to Florida, or any other U.S. states, without significantly increasing the risk and severity of drug shortages nationwide,” David Renwick, the group’s interim president, said in a statement.
So let's recap. The American Pharmacists Association chose to spend its time today communicating how "dismayed" they are about a policy, then proceeded to give counterintuitive to a first grader reasons for opposing such policy, and the policy is likely to never scale up to the point where it significantly affects the American drug market anyway.
Meanwhile, chain pharmacists across the United States are unable to practice pharmacy due to the increasingly draconian demands of their employers, and independent drugstores are facing a crisis that threatens their very existence. No dismay about any of that.
Yup, some things never change. Unlike the thermostat in this place, which I'm about to crank up, consequences be dammed.
