Limited Personal Importation by the Uninsured Makes Sense

February 26, 2010
The American (blog)
By Roger Bate

Starting Monday, Google will prevent web pharmacies dispensing drugs from abroad from advertising on its search engine. Google claims this move will lower the risk of people buying counterfeit drugs, and Western drug makers agree. But it’s bad news for patients who struggle to pay U.S. prices for drugs. What’s more, it won’t noticeably improve drug quality.

Google’s new policy means fewer than 20 web pharmacies can advertise online. Many are brand-name organizations like Walgreens, CVS, and Rite Aid, companies that built an online presence as their bricks-and-mortar operations lost some business to small U.S. and Canadian web-based outfits. Most of those competitors are not on Google’s new list, yet many of them sell good-quality drugs. Read more

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