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The source of this article is Medscape.com: http://tinyurl.com/6y5zz US Drug Imports Rising Despite Warnings, FDA Says By Lisa Richwine WASHINGTON (Reuters) Jul 23 - The number of unapproved prescription drugs shipped into the United States is growing despite government and private sector efforts to fight it, officials told Congress on Thursday. The Food and Drug Administration since 1999 has expanded the number of investigations targeted at illicit Internet pharmacies and warned Americans that buying medicines online is risky, officials told a Senate Government Affairs subcommittee hearing. Search engines Yahoo and Google said they took steps starting last year to make sure pharmacies that advertise on their Web pages are legitimate. Credit card firm Mastercard also said it was working to keep its cards from being used to purchase imported medicines. Still, thousands of packages containing prescription drugs pour into U.S. international mail facilities each year, government officials said, adding that it is impossible for border inspectors to check most of them. "The growing volume of unapproved imported drugs ... presents a formidable challenge," said John Taylor, FDA associate commissioner for regulatory affairs. Importing medicines is against the law, but Congress is considering creating a legal system to help senior citizens and others buy cheaper medicines from Canada and other countries. Medicines bought online are part of the larger debate over drug imports, a growing election-year issue amid rising drug costs. FDA officials say the practice is risky because regulators cannot assure drugs bought from abroad are safe and effective. Some consumers are seeking easy access to controlled substances that could potentially be abused, officials said. Critics say the agency is exaggerating the risks to protect drug-industry profits. "In our view, personal importation can never be made safe and effective," William Hubbard, FDA associate commissioner for policy and planning, said in an interview. Hiring more border inspectors will not keep counterfeit or contaminated drugs from reaching U.S. consumers, Hubbard said. Inspectors cannot tell just by looking at a medicine whether it is legitimate, and chemical testing of all the products would be impractical, he said. In separate action on Thursday, the FDA sent a second letter to the governor of Wisconsin urging him to take down a Web site that directs residents to Canadian pharmacies. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- To sign-off Parkinsn send a message to: mailto:[log in to unmask] In the body of the message put: signoff parkinsn