The Food and Drug Administration’s unprecedented approval of Florida’s plan to import drugs from Canada was made possible only after Alex Azar, as the Trump administration’s Health and Human Services secretary, certified that bringing medicines over the border could be done safely.
Azar made the historic declaration in September 2020, just two months before his boss, former President Donald Trump, lost reelection.
Now, Azar’s involved in the business of making importation happen. He is chairman of the board of LifeScience Logistics, a Dallas-based company that Florida is paying as much as $39 million to help manage its Canadian drug importation program, not including the cost of drugs.
LifeScience officials confirmed Azar’s position but didn’t respond to questions about how much he is paid or whether he’s involved in the Florida work. Azar didn’t return messages left with his employers or sent to a personal email address.
I think it’s a difficult balance, because we’re also talking about poor people who possibly don’t even have insurance being able to get the medication they need. I don’t think Azar is going about it properly by any means, but there’s a reason people take healthcare “vacations” across the Mexican border when they live in a border state. They’re fucking desperate. They might even be dying. Or they might be psychotic without medication.
I absolutely would not recommend this because of quality control issues, but about 20 years ago, I lost my health insurance and I am Bipolar Type II, so I had to import drugs from India to stop the suicidal thoughts I was having, bought on the cheap over the internet. I didn’t have any other option because I sure as hell couldn’t afford to pay full price for what I needed. Now I need a bunch of medication due to other medical issues and that is likely to increase. If I lost my insurance now, I’d have to do it again or I would be in serious physical pain and mental anguish.