[leonth]

I'm not sure about US law, but there should be a provision like importing a non-licensed drug for a named patient, with declaration from the doctor and pharmacist saying that they bear full responsibility in case anything goes bad. Using this the doctor can import any kind of drug as they wish - but of course they must be responsible for it as there is no more "screening" from FDA.

Singapore has this provision because the market is too small for lots of drugs to come in.

[refurb]

That kind of already exists. US resident are allowed to import up to 90 days worth of a prescription drug. For drugs that aren't prescription-only, the FDA doesn't really care unless they feel the drugs are unsafe.

Most of the drugs mentioned in the article can be purchased by people in the US through the internet.

[davorak]

>Singapore has this provision because the market is too small for lots of drugs to come in.

Interesting how do doctors end up bearing "full responsibility"? It seems like something has to work differently in civil court or current culture most be different enough that the doctor is not run out of business after a few patients die after importing and taking responsibility for a drug.

[leonth]

Singapore is not really as litigious a society as US, I don't think there is ever a case where the patient sues the doctor because s/he uses an exemption (non-registered) drug. In some cases the patient probably doesn't even know that the drug is not registered.

Importing a drug under exemption is "serious business" and is usually only done by the most senior doctors (or by approval from a committee of senior doctors). They must exhaust all registered options first before moving to exemption drugs, and the pharmacists play a role in ensuring that (another incentive to do that is the paperwork can be rather significant).

Because you need a pharmacist to do this, it usually happens only in larger establishments like hospitals, where pharmacists are readily available and cooperative.