Opening door to imported drugs is not without risks

Even with safe trade partners, products can still have origins in other countries, so this would be a real nightmare to monitor.  BD

Allowing the importation of prescription drugs with the ostensible purpose of saving consumers a few bucks is a dangerous response to high drug prices. Congress has a responsibility to protect Americans from overseas threats, not expose them to those hazards.
Unfortunately, Congress seems not to have learned from America's recent ordeal with tainted toothpaste.

Several members of Congress have introduced legislation to allow the importation of pharmaceuticals from abroad, promising that imports will be closely scrutinized and only permitted from certain countries.
But the reality is not so simple.

First, obtaining drugs from nations like Britain and France offers little protection, because chemicals, pharmaceuticals and other consumer goods move freely among the 27 European Union member states through a system of "parallel trade." And because the EU does not require drug importers to record such product information as batch numbers, it's quite common for goods to travel outside official distribution channels. Therefore, drugs purchased from "safe" countries may well have originated in Latvia, Cyprus or elsewhere in the EU, where there are ample opportunities for counterfeit drugs to enter the legitimate supply chain.

Opening door to imported drugs is not without risks | Chicago Tribune