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Testing on an Adderall tablet from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, got here again optimistic in January. Pharmacies there are promoting counterfeit prescription tablets laced with illicit substances and passing them off as professional prescription drugs.
Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Instances by way of Getty Photos
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Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Instances by way of Getty Photos
Testing on an Adderall tablet from Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, got here again optimistic in January. Pharmacies there are promoting counterfeit prescription tablets laced with illicit substances and passing them off as professional prescription drugs.
Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Instances by way of Getty Photos
Mexican pharmacies that cater to U.S. vacationers are promoting drugs that seem protected however are incessantly laced with lethal fentanyl and methamphetamine.
That is the conclusion of new analysis that examined drugs bought legally in 4 cities in northern Mexico the place vacationers from the U.S. typically search low-cost well being care and prescription drugs.
“For tablets bought as oxycodone, we examined 27 and located 10 or 11 of them contained both fentanyl or heroin,” mentioned Chelsea Shover, a researcher on the UCLA College of Medication.
She mentioned the conduct by retail pharmacies in Mexico places unsuspecting folks at excessive danger of overdose and dying.
“After I see there are fentanyl tablets someplace that appear to be [prescription drugs], I do know there need to have been individuals who’ve died from that,” Shover mentioned.
Her workforce additionally discovered drugs bought at Mexican pharmacies laced with methamphetamines.
Whereas these drug shops promote drugs to Mexican shoppers, Shover says their foremost prospects seem like People.
“Related merchandise can be found at a a lot cheaper price in Mexico, so People do journey to economize.”
Two Democratic lawmakers despatched a letter to the U.S. State Division calling for a journey advisory to warn People of the hazard of buying drugs in Mexico.
“We needs to be completely very involved,” mentioned Rep. David Trone (D-Md.), one of many authors of the letter. “Now we have nearly 12 million People visiting Mexico yearly.”
Based on Trone, pharmacies boosting income with the high-risk follow are positioned in communities the place People journey looking for aid from high-cost prescription drugs bought within the U.S.
“There’s actually a pharmacy on each nook, they’re in every single place down there, as a result of the value of medicine is cheaper.”
On Saturday, the Los Angeles Instances reported State Division officers apparently knew concerning the hazard posed by Mexican pharmacies as way back as 2019 however did not challenge a high-profile alert to vacationers.
Based on the newspaper’s investigation, a minimum of one U.S. traveler is thought to have overdosed and died after taking drugs bought at a drug retailer in Cabo San Lucas, Mexico, in 2019.
Rep. Trone mentioned if U.S. officers knew about unsafe drugs being bought at authorized retailers in Mexico, they need to have warned vacationers sooner.
“We have heard nothing again [from the State Department] and it’s totally irritating,” he added.
The State Division despatched an announcement to NPR saying it would not touch upon the letter from lawmakers.
On background, an official pointed to an advisory included within the State Division’s normal on-line details about Mexico that urges vacationers to “train warning when buying drugs abroad.”
“Counterfeit treatment is frequent and should show to be ineffective, the incorrect energy, or include harmful elements,” the advisory reads.
There isn’t any reference, nonetheless, to the precise dangers of harmful medication laced with fentanyl bought at authorized pharmacies.
Throughout a press briefing Monday, spokesman Ned Worth mentioned American officers always replace security advisories issued for Mexico.
“We’re all the time data to find out whether or not it’s needed to maneuver our journey warnings in a single course or one other,” he mentioned.
Earlier this month, 4 People have been kidnapped by gunmen whereas touring to Mexico to hunt low-cost medical care. Two of them have been killed.
That case had already raised issues concerning the security of medical tourism within the nation.
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