Amid soaring drug prices, FDA reverses stance and cracks down on cheap imports

Enlarge / Sixty-one-year-old US citizen Shirley Wilford hops the border to buy prescription drugs in a pharmacy in Hemmingford, Canada. (credit: Getty | Darren McCollester)

Late last month, the Food and Drug Administration raided nine stores in Central Florida that help customers illegally order affordable prescription drugs from verified pharmacies overseas, particularly those in Canada, according to a report by Kaiser Health News.

The agency sent in criminal investigation agents with search warrants for computer files and any paperwork related to sales of foreign drugs. The agents also took files on customers and the stores' financial records. They left behind a letter for store owners to sign, acknowledging that the practice of importing foreign medicines is illegal.

Although none of the stores has closed due to the activity, the owners are spooked by the turn of events-and puzzled by the timing.

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