© 2024 St. Louis Public Radio
Play Live Radio
Next Up:
0:00
0:00
0:00 0:00
Available On Air Stations
Other

Missouri Pharmacies to Warn of Imported Drugs

Tom McGinnis, with the FDA (right), speaks with Virginia Leguey-Feilleux about importing drugs from other countries.
(KWMU staff photo)
Tom McGinnis, with the FDA (right), speaks with Virginia Leguey-Feilleux about importing drugs from other countries.

By Tom Weber, KWMU

St. Louis – New warnings about importing drugs may come to a pharmacy near you.

The next time you have a prescription filled, there might also be a small pamphlet in your bag titled "Looks Can Be Deceiving."

It's the government's way of warning people of what it calls the dangers of importing prescription drugs.

Pamphlets in bags won't directly help lower prescription drug costs, but the FDA's Tom McGinnis says people can lower their own costs by talking more with their pharmacist about other drugs that might cost less.

He says that's what pharmacists are there for.

"Consumers see a busy pharmacist back there and don't really realize that that's a trained health professional back there," McGinnis said. "If you have a question they're going to go out of their way to answer it."

Not every pharmacy in Missouri will give out the pamphlets, but about 900 are expected to participate statewide.

Illinois has already launched a similar campaign.

To see the phamphlet, visit the FDA website. (This page Requires Adobe Acrobat.)

Other