Abstract
Many reports suggest that the use of imported medications in the United States continues
to grow, fueled mostly by the rising price of prescription drugs. This trend may be
problematic for several reasons, including the potential for counterfeit or impure
products, a lack of pharmacist support outside of the United States, and the ability
to purchase agents without a prescription from some countries. We performed a survey
of Emergency Department (ED) patients in a border community to observe the magnitude
of imported medication use, and to begin to determine the rationale behind the practice.
A survey was conducted of 1008 ED patient encounters of individuals reporting at triage
to be on any prescription or over-the-counter medication. Participants were queried
on their use of imported medications and implications of such use through a questionnaire.
A total of 966 patient encounter surveys were included in the analysis. Of this number,
7% reported the use of medications purchased outside of the United States. Most of
these were purchased in person and in Mexico. The most commonly cited reason for importing
medications was decreased cost, and almost a quarter of those importing medications
stated that their physician had recommended it. The most common medications imported
were antibiotics, and nearly a third of all of those buying foreign medications had
done so without a prescription. Our study suggests that many patients in our community
purchase medications outside of the United States.
Keywords
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Article info
Publication history
Published online: June 18, 2007
Accepted:
February 1,
2007
Received in revised form:
January 26,
2007
Received:
November 5,
2006
Identification
Copyright
© 2007 Elsevier Inc. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
