美国国家公共电台 NPR American Travelers Seek Cheaper Prescription Drugs In Mexico And Beyond

 

RACHEL MARTIN, HOST:

As the cost of prescription¹ drugs keeps going up in the U.S., some patients are looking for cheaper alternatives abroad, including Mexico. Bram Sable-Smith reports.

BRAM SABLE-SMITH, BYLINE²: When Michelle Fenner (ph) signed up to run this year's Los Angeles Marathon, it got her thinking, Tijuana's only two and a half hours away from LA, and she has a son with Type 1 diabetes³.

MICHELLE FENNER: It's so easy to just go across the border and pick up insulin. So why not do that?

SABLE-SMITH: Fenner says this idea's been in the back of her mind for a while. Her son was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes nine years ago. He needs daily injections of insulin to stay alive. And the price of insulin is skyrocketing. Last year, when Fenner went to pick up insulin at a pharmacy⁴...

FENNER: A three-month supply was going to be $3,700. Whoa. (Laughter) When did this happen?

SABLE-SMITH: That same supply would only cost about $600 in Mexico. And since she's going to LA anyway...

FENNER: That's when I decided⁵ to update our passports and go and get more insulin.

SABLE-SMITH: Fenner's not the only one thinking like this. Close to a million Californians alone cross to Mexico each year for health care, including to buy prescription drugs. Cost savings⁶ is the most common reason why. And in Utah, the public employee health plan has started paying for its patients to travel to Mexico to fill one of 13 costly⁷ prescription drugs, including the popular arthritis⁸ drug Humera. Utah State Representative Norm Thurston passed the law creating the program.

NORM THURSTON: The first patients went in December. But it's going to grow from there as more people find out about it, as it becomes more acceptable.

SABLE-SMITH: The insurer pays the airfare for the patient and a companion to San Diego and then transportation across the border to Tijuana. Now, there are a couple questions here. First, is it legal? The Food and Drug Administration says, in most cases, it's illegal to import drugs across the border. But there are some exceptions. And the U.S. Customs and Border Protection website has a whole section on traveling with medications in their "Know Before You Go" guide. While those guidelines still leave you with questions, Thurston says lots of people do this.

THURSTON: There has never been a single person who has been prosecuted⁹ for doing it, and it happens every day at every border crossing.

SABLE-SMITH: Customs and Border Protection could not tell us if there are prosecutions¹⁰, but said if there were it would not be a significant number. The second question is about quality. The reason it's mostly illegal to import drugs is because the FDA says it cannot ensure their safety or effectiveness. In 2017, the World Health Organization estimated that 10 percent of drugs in developing countries were either substandard or falsified. To address that problem, the Utah program only sends its patients to a designated, accredited¹¹ Mexican hospital. And Michelle Fenner is taking her own precautions.

FENNER: I've got several people who have sent me information of pharmacies¹² to go to in Tijuana because, you know, you get a little nervous. You want to make sure that you have a reputable pharmacy.

SABLE-SMITH: When she picks one, she'll call ahead and place her order. For NPR News, I'm Bram Sable-Smith in Madison, Wis.

1 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

4 pharmacy   

n.药房，药剂学，制药业，配药业，一批备用药品

参考例句：

• She works at the pharmacy.她在药房工作。
• Modern pharmacy has solved the problem of sleeplessness.现代制药学已经解决了失眠问题。

5 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

6 savings   

n.存款，储蓄

参考例句：

• I can't afford the vacation,for it would eat up my savings.我度不起假，那样会把我的积蓄用光的。
• By this time he had used up all his savings.到这时，他的存款已全部用完。

7 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

8 arthritis   

n.关节炎

参考例句：

• Rheumatoid arthritis has also been linked with the virus.风湿性关节炎也与这种病毒有关。
• He spent three months in the hospital with acute rheumatic arthritis.他患急性风湿性关节炎，在医院住了三个月。

9 prosecuted   

a.被起诉的

参考例句：

• The editors are being prosecuted for obscenity. 编辑因刊载污秽文字而被起诉。
• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。

10 prosecutions   

起诉( prosecution的名词复数 )； 原告； 实施； 从事

参考例句：

• It is the duty of the Attorney-General to institute prosecutions. 检察总长负责提起公诉。
• Since World War II, the government has been active in its antitrust prosecutions. 第二次世界大战以来，政府积极地进行着反对托拉斯的检举活动。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

11 accredited   

adj.可接受的；可信任的；公认的；质量合格的v.相信( accredit的过去式和过去分词 )；委托；委任；把…归结于

参考例句：

• The discovery of distillation is usually accredited to the Arabs of the 11th century. 通常认为，蒸馏法是阿拉伯人在11世纪发明的。
• Only accredited journalists were allowed entry. 只有正式认可的记者才获准入内。

12 pharmacies   

药店

参考例句：

• Still, 32 percent of the pharmacies filled the prescriptions. 但仍然有32%的药剂师配发了这两张药方。 来自互联网
• Chinese herbal pharmacies, and traditional massage therapists in the Vancouver telephone book. 中药店，和传统的按摩师在温哥华的电话簿里。 来自互联网