Lawmakers sound the alarm over fentanyl-laced pills sold at Mexican pharmacies
Credit: The Washington Times
Democratic lawmakers are pressing the State Department to issue a warning about fentanyl-laced pills sold by Mexican pharmacies to unsuspecting Americans who travel across the border looking for cheaper medication.
Sen. Edward Markey of Massachusetts and Rep. David Trone of Maryland pointed to California researchers who determined that northern Mexican drugstores are selling counterfeit pills containing fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamine.
The pills are sold mainly to U.S. tourists and made to look like drugs such as oxycodone, percocet and Adderall, according to the team at the University of California, Los Angeles.
A separate investigation by the Los Angeles Times found that 71% of the 17 pills it tested from Mexican drugstores came back positive for more powerful drugs.
“These adulterated drugs place unsuspecting U.S. tourist customers — some of whom are seeking to avoid high pharmaceutical drug pricing in the United States — at risk of overdose and death,” Mr. Markey and Mr. Trone wrote in a recent letter to Secretary of State Antony Blinken. “As an immediate step, the State Department needs to warn Americans traveling to Mexico of the danger they face when purchasing pills from Mexican pharmacies.”
