Florida Democratic House Candidate Launches Campaign To Tell Seniors How to Import Drugs from Canada

As part of her bid to unseat Rep. Clay Shaw (R-Fla.), Democratic challenger Carol Roberts, vice chair of the Palm Beach County Board of County Commissioners, ran a television advertisement last week promoting her telephone hotline that explains how to illegally import prescription drugs from Canada, the Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel reports. The 30-second spot features four Palm County residents criticizing pharmaceutical companies and Roberts encouraging people to "join our fight by calling my toll-free number, 1-866-RX-CAROL." The FDA prohibits the reimportation of U.S.-manufactured drugs from other countries because the agency cannot verify the medications' safety. However, the agency acknowledges that it does not have the resources to enforce the law, and local and state authorities say they will not prosecute those who break it, the Sun-Sentinel reports. Stephen Gaskill, Roberts' spokesperson, said the hotline is not improper because the ban is not "being enforced by any entity." However, Shaw's campaign manager Larry Casey said Roberts is "putting senior citizens in South Florida at great risk" by promoting an illegal activity with the advertisement. Shaw has said he would support legalizing drug reimportation from Canada, but only if the FDA can "authenticate" the medications (Fooksman, Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel, 9/13).