Mexican pharmacies that cater to U.S. tourists are selling medications that appear safe but are frequently laced with deadly fentanyl and methamphetamine.
That’s the conclusion of
new research that examined
medications purchased legally in four cities in northern Mexico where travelers from the U.S. often seek low-cost health care and pharmaceuticals.
“For pills sold as oxycodone, we tested 27 and found 10 or 11 of them contained either fentanyl or heroin,” said Chelsea Shover, a researcher at the UCLA School of Medicine.
She said the behavior by retail pharmacies in Mexico puts unsuspecting people at high risk of overdose and death.
“When I see there are fentanyl pills somewhere that look like [prescription drugs], I know there have to have been people who’ve died from that,” Shover said.
Her team also found medications sold at Mexican pharmacies laced with methamphetamines.
While these drug stores sell medications to Mexican consumers, Shover says their main customers appear to be Americans.
“Similar products are available at a much lower price in Mexico, so Americans do travel to save money.”
Two Democratic lawmakers
sent a letter to the U.S. State Department
calling for a travel advisory to warn Americans of the danger of purchasing medications in Mexico.
“We should be absolutely very concerned,” said Rep. David Trone (D-Md.), one of the authors of the letter. “We have almost 12 million Americans visiting Mexico every year.”
According to Trone, pharmacies boosting profits with the high-risk practice are located in communities where Americans travel seeking relief from high-cost prescription medications sold in the U.S.
“There’s literally a pharmacy on every corner, they’re everywhere down…
Read the full article here
