Susan Brandzel and friend traveling in Mexico.

A GHRI researcher worries about easy access to prescription meds after seeing for herself how common they are across the border

I’ve always known that it’s easy and cheap to get pharmaceutical drugs in Mexico. But on my first visit there recently, I was simply shocked to see it in person. My jaw dropped when I walked into a small pharmacy in Todos Santos. Shelves were lined with the most commonly used prescription for diabetes, bacterial infections, erectile dysfunction, hypertension and depression—and the list goes on.

I squirmed with angst about the safety implications of someone just walking in, buying these drugs and consuming them. Sure, the most common customers may be people who already have a U.S. prescription for them. (That’s a lot better than someone just self-treating a suspected infection with a randomly purchased antibacterial—a practice that encourages antibiotic resistance—just because it is available.) But even with a prescription, the quality and safety of these medications is in question.

Way back in 2001, the New York Times ran a long story about this easy-access pharmaceutical industry. The story included warnings from the FDA about the quality and safety of these medications. But that was 14 years ago. Have they gotten worse? Better? Safer? More dangerous?

The Walter Cronkite School of Journalism published a story in 2013 about this phenomenon, and stressed how often Mexican pharmaceuticals are found to be counterfeit or to include a substitute ingredient compared to the FDA-regulated version. PBS posted a story in 2014 about the well-developed trade of these drugs in Mexican border towns, where regular runners illegally bring the meds to paying customers who live in the U.S. The Department of Homeland Security is trying to shut these practices down. But like trafficking of recreational drugs, it is extremely hard to control.

I understand the appeal, especially for people who have chronic conditions. The cost of prescription medications in the U.S. is outrageously high. And Americans should be skeptical, at best, about the profit margins some pharmaceutical companies are making. But I sure am worried for the safety of people who buy meds south of the border. I’d like to see the U.S. disseminate warnings to all travelers to Mexico informing them about the risks associated with unregulated medications and reminding them that what you see might not be what you get.

Susan Brandzel is a project manager at Group Health Research Institute

Learn more

• Read the 2013 Walter Cronkite School of Journalism story.
• Read the 2014 PBS story.