Al Qaida's Prozac....

Vander · Post by **Vander** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 5:52 pm

http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington ... rugs_x.htm

FDA fears terrorists may target food, drugs

WASHINGTON (AP) â?? Tampering with prescription drugs could be a way for terrorists to launch an attack on Americans, acting Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Lester Crawford said Wednesday.

Crawford said in an interview with The Associated Press that possible action by terrorists was the most serious of his concerns about the increasing efforts of states and cities to import drugs from Canada to save money.

Would-be terrorists need only poke around the Internet to learn how Tylenol, then the nation's leading painkiller, was removed from shelves, filled with cyanide and returned to stores to kill unsuspecting consumers two decades ago.

"I would think that's something they would be looking at," Crawford said of terrorists. "Nothing like that has happened," he added. "But it is a source of continuing concern."

A spokesman for the Homeland Security Department said it has received "no specific information" of such a threat.

We can't import the cheap generic drugs Canadians are using because they might be use for a terrorist attack! Am I being too cynical in thinking that this is a dishonest ploy meant to scare people away from wanting to obtain cheaper medications from abroad?

Birdseye · Post by **Birdseye** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 5:54 pm

terrorism can and will be used to justify practically anything contreversial. Those who don't agree will be labeled unpatriotic america haters.

Avder · Post by **Avder** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 6:17 pm

So I'm unpatriotic because as soon as I lose my current medical coverage and have to buy perscriptions full prive, I'll probably turn to a cheap canadian mail order company. Sheesh, endorse the drug companies a little louder why dont you.

Everyone and their dogs know that the FDA is in the pocket of the big pharmaceutical companies an that canadian reimportation is nothing more than a threat to their opressive business model.

bash · Post by **bash** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 6:28 pm

You're all unpatriotic America haters.

Boom! Moderator sinks Jeff's battleship.

Krom · Post by **Krom** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 7:18 pm

Birdseye wrote:terrorism can and will be used to justify practically anything contreversial. Those who don't agree will be labeled unpatriotic america haters.

Aggreed. Even in the unlikely event we got rid of all the terrorists, we would still be stuck with terrorism forver. Terrorism from within.

MehYam · Post by **MehYam** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 8:00 pm

I've also heard that terrorists are targeting tax evaders, law breakers, democrats, and people who buy French wines.

Birdseye · Post by **Birdseye** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 8:09 pm

yeah but you'll never hear that the weapons we export might help terrorism

bash · Post by **bash** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 8:50 pm

It's evil Canadian globalization, I tells ya.

Viralphrame · Post by **Viralphrame** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 9:40 pm

Avder wrote: Everyone and their dogs know that the FDA is in the pocket of the big pharmaceutical companies an that canadian reimportation is nothing more than a threat to their opressive business model.

Let's not forget the flying saucers and aliens in Area 51.

Will Robinson · Post by **Will Robinson** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 9:49 pm

No you are not too cynical, you are probably dead on and whichever representatives start singing that song are the ones who have the most drug company money in their pockets. Like they say, follow the money!

I don't think it will really work as an effective means of scaring the voters away from the drug importation plan though. It does work to expose the congressmen who are both, dumb enough to think it will, AND on the drug company campain donation plan.

Avder · Post by **Avder** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 10:08 pm

Amazing. A right winger agrees with me....I think.

Kyouryuu · Post by **Kyouryuu** » Thu Aug 12, 2004 11:47 pm

The whole notion that safe prescription drugs in Canada, when imported into the US, are suddenly toxic and deadly is asinine - advanced by politicians with ulterior motives and corporate bribery.

The FDA wants to feel important. Terrorists are planning to enter their domain. They want to protect us from those dangerous Canadian drugs. They want to wheel and deal with Merck and Roche.

Personally, I think it's frightening that the government commission designed to protect the best interests of Americans is so corrupted by big business. In my opinion, when a faction of the government no longer operates in the best interests of the people, it should be torn down.

Ferno · Post by **Ferno** » Fri Aug 13, 2004 12:08 am

i took one look at the article title and pretty much concluded that it's nothing more than a scare tactic.

Will Robinson · Post by **Will Robinson** » Fri Aug 13, 2004 7:11 am

Avder wrote:Amazing. A right winger agrees with me....I think.

I don't care which wing of the aircraft you're on as long as you fly right your ok with me

It's when the left wing drops their flaps while the rest of us are trying to ascend that I get pissed off!

DCrazy · Post by **DCrazy** » Fri Aug 13, 2004 8:25 am

When you buy (Canadian) drugs, you are supporting terrorism. A message from the Ad Council.

Avder · Post by **Avder** » Fri Aug 13, 2004 12:56 pm

Who the hell *IS* the Ad council, whose payroll are they under, and who authorized them anyway?

I hate those guys.

kurupt · Post by **kurupt** » Fri Aug 13, 2004 9:17 pm

someone slipping some nasty ★■◆● into some prescriptions doesn't seem all that impossible to me. i don't think we should completely dismiss the notion just because the politician who spews it is obviously in the pocket of some pharmecutical companies.

Will Robinson · Post by **Will Robinson** » Fri Aug 13, 2004 9:58 pm

The idea that the drugs are somehow safe from tampering as long as they aren't imported from canada is where the 'notion' parts company with reality.

Vander · Post by **Vander** » Sat Aug 14, 2004 12:58 pm

The funny thing about this is that the logical solution would be to allow people to purchase directly from legitimate retailers, thereby lowering the threat of black market tampering.

Birdseye · Post by **Birdseye** » Sat Aug 14, 2004 3:33 pm

hey come on now, no logic in here, please

Ford Prefect · Post by **Ford Prefect** » Sat Aug 14, 2004 7:20 pm

Right on Birdseye there is no place here for logic.

DCrazy · Post by **DCrazy** » Sat Aug 14, 2004 7:23 pm

Vander wrote:The funny thing about this is that the logical solution would be to allow people to purchase directly from legitimate retailers, thereby lowering the threat of black market tampering.

Not quite... then there will be massive lawsuits when people order the wrong thing. Pharmacists exist to make sure you get the proper dosage and that they haven't given you anything that might react badly with what they're about to give you. That's why companies like Walgreens build drug histories.

Ford Prefect · Post by **Ford Prefect** » Sat Aug 14, 2004 7:32 pm

Since you don't "order" what you want but only pass on your doctors prescription. That is not really a problem Dcrazy. And, like any legitimate drug dispenser they give written information and keep records of what you have bought from them in the past to keep an eye out for possible conflicts.

Birdseye · Post by **Birdseye** » Tue Aug 17, 2004 2:52 pm

Good comments, Ford.

Dcrazy, do you like protectionist economics? That's all this amounts to.

I personally breathed a sigh of relief when Bush finally dropped steel tariffs.

DCrazy · Post by **DCrazy** » Tue Aug 17, 2004 3:36 pm

I personally don't mind Walgreen's keeping a list of all the drugs they've ever sold me. I can request a printed copy of this list and hand it to my doctor in the event that he needs to prescribe me medication that has known interactions with other drugs. It's a service that I pay for when I buy drugs from Walgreen's, that's all the economics that come into play here.

I think I misunderstood "legitimate retailers" to mean drug companies such as GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer, in an effort to "cut out the middle man".

kufyit · Post by **kufyit** » Tue Aug 17, 2004 8:45 pm

We need protection from our economists these days, that's for sure.

Instig8 · Post by **Instig8** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 12:22 pm

Sounds like the boogie man who's out to get ya.

Better watch out!
/sarcasm

Birdseye · Post by **Birdseye** » Wed Aug 18, 2004 5:46 pm

Ah DC, thought you were against candian drug importation. My mistake, apologies.