Counterfeit medicine sales are on the rise in Alabama and nationwide.
The state faced trouble with growing sales of counterfeit Xanax pills laced with fentanyl in 2021. Now, online scammers are counterfeiting the weight-loss drug Ozempic, including insulin pens with an Ozempic label.
The Food and Drug Administration seized thousands of units of fake Ozempic in late 2023 but research shows numerous lifestyle drugs are being counterfeited daily.
Shabbir Imber Safdar, executive director of the Partnership for Safe Medicine, said telehealth can push people to take medications they would not normally qualify for.
“To do something significant — like to go on an injectable drug for a long period of time, that is going to have serious consequences for your health and nutrition, and your weight — you really need to see a real doctor, not a computer doctor, not a doctor in a chat room,” Safdar argued. “I think some telehealth companies have normalized the fact that that’s not important.”
Some pharmacies and clinics face lawsuits for selling knockoff drugs through telemedicine. Safdar explained a major red flag is when an online ad promises expedited access to a certain drug without a prescription.
Social media sites like TikTok, Facebook, and Etsy have only expanded a person’s ability to get counterfeit drugs. Though federal agencies and lawmakers have issued warnings, Safdar pointed out the biggest challenge to maintaining public safety is the public.
“When you skip that pharmacist in that white coat and you go online and try to pick a pharmacy yourself, or you pick a telemedicine doctor yourself, you’ve skipped all of the safety checks,” Safdar stressed.
There is a proposal in Congress to implement stricter regulations on the sale of drugs through social media platforms. The bill would require social media sites to monitor and report illegal drug sales to law enforcement.
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Research shows many people in low-income California communities are having a hard time filling their prescriptions because pharmacies in their area are struggling and even closing.
One in four communities in Los Angeles County, for example, is now considered a “pharmacy desert.”
Dima Qato, associate professor of pharmaceutical sciences at the University of Southern California, and her team have developed a mapping tool that reveals the extent of the problem, which she said hits communities of color hardest in both urban and rural areas.
“I think that it’s getting worse,” Qato observed. “In the next several years, a lot of chains have announced plans to close many of their stores. At the same time, one and three independents are at risk for closing.”
Qato would like to see Congress reform the practices of pharmacy benefit managers, who decide where a patient can go to fill their medications, how much a pharmacy will be paid and which pharmacies are considered “in network” for health insurance. The bipartisan Pharmacy Benefits Manager Accountability Act, currently in Congress, would increase oversight of the industry.
Qato argued stronger policies could keep more independent pharmacies from going out of business, which could also improve health equity.
“It’s due to the role of pharmacy benefit managers and low reimbursement rates, and the growth of pharmacy networks, which restrict where patients can and cannot go,” Qato outlined. “Sometimes, patients have to bypass the nearest pharmacy to go to another pharmacy that’s within their network.”
University of Southern California researchers have called for policies encouraging pharmacies to locate in pharmacy deserts, including increases to Medicaid and Medicare reimbursement rates for those most at risk for closure.
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Health advocates in Virginia are calling to protect the Affordable Care Act as it faces scrutiny from some national Republicans.
More than 300 people signed a petition to Rep. Jen Kiggans, R-Va., asking her to defend Obamacare. The pressure comes as others in her party, like former President Donald Trump have vowed to replace it.
Laura Packard, executive director of the nonprofit Health Care Voter, said a lot of people take the Affordable Care Act for granted.
“Things like birth control, access, wellness checkups for free, various free preventative exams, like a mammogram or a colonoscopy,” Packard outlined. “All those things didn’t used to be guaranteed or free.”
The Affordable Care Act remains popular among Americans. In Virginia, more than 400,000 people signed up for a plan for this year through the federal marketplace and another 700,000 plus people have coverage through Medicaid expansion.
Kiggans is a nurse practitioner and her campaign said in a statement she has taken concrete steps to protect Social Security and Medicare.
Packard is still hoping for more clarity about the Affordable Care Act specifically. In 2017, she was diagnosed with stage four cancer and was able to get chemotherapy and radiation treatments through her insurance. She is in remission today, she said, because of Obamacare protections for people with preexisting conditions.
“People truly may not remember or may not have ever faced the times when insurance companies could drop you for any reason at all, just because they didn’t want to pay for your care,” Packard pointed out.
The Affordable Care Act also allows adults under the age of 26 to stay on their parents’ insurance.
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Many Mississippians could see higher credit scores if a rule proposed by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau goes into effect.
The proposal would effectively remove medical bills from credit reports, potentially improving credit scores for millions of people. Mississippi is among the states with the highest share of adults with medical debt, at just over 15% of the population.
Kiren Gopal, senior counsel for the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, said the rule would prohibit lenders from considering medical bills when making credit decisions, such as for car loans or small business loans.
“Right now, 15 million Americans still have almost $50 billion worth of outstanding medical bills on their credit reports,” Gopal explained. “It’s punishing them by blocking them from really important life opportunities like buying a home, for example.”
The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is taking public comments on the proposal through Aug. 12, online at regulations.gov. Gopal added they are working toward a final rule to take effect in 2025.
Gopal pointed out the bureau published research last year showing people in Mississippi are considerably more likely to have a medical collection listed on their credit report, compared to consumers nationally.
“Nationally, we see about 17% of consumers have a medical collection on their credit report, whereas in Mississippi, it’s 22% respectively,” Gopal reported.
He added if the new rule is enacted, people with medical debt on their credit reports would see their credit scores rise by 20 points, on average. Overall, it could lead to about 22,000 additional home mortgage applications being approved each year.
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