The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) has been aware for years that Mexican pharmacies sold drugs laced, often with fentanyl, which was deadly to Americans, in keeping with a latest report.
The Los Angeles Times reported that the agency had been aware of the data for greater than three years, since the death of California native Brennan Harrell in 2019.
Brennan died while vacationing in Cabo San Lucas at a bachelor party, and while Mexican officials said he died of a heart attack, further toxicology reports revealed otherwise.
Actually, he died from a lethal dose of fentanyl, in keeping with a California medical expert, which was attributable to pills he and his friend bought at a neighborhood pharmacy.
An examiner who routinely contacted DEA agents alerted officials that Brennan had died from laced-up drugs from a Mexican pharmacy, but even after months of investigation, the road to justice seemed removed from successful.
The Brennan family also pressed for answers and wrote to members of Congress to boost awareness in regards to the issue, but achieved nothing as they demanded motion.
This report follows startling findings published by the LA Times that uncovered pharmacies in various areas of the Northwest they were selling counterfeit drugs – as much as 71% of the tested drugs are combined with a stronger drug.
In areas resembling Cabo San Lucas and Tijuana, the investigation found that methamphetamine was present in Adderall tablets, and fentanyl was present in some painkillers resembling oxycodone and hydrocodone.
While the fentanyl crisis was a problem that garnered increasing attention as poison-related deaths skyrocketed across the US, Mexican pharmacies weren’t on the periphery – given what number of critics point to the border crisis because the cause of the violent overdose – until now.
It comes as officials warn Americans against medical tourism, an industry that has boomed south of the border as tourists want cheaper surgeries.
Alexis McAdams reported on Tuesday that medical tourism is a “growing business” in Mexico, citing greater than one million Americans who travel south of the border annually for certain procedures.
She said Americans save as much as 70% a yr on dental, cosmetic and weight reduction treatments, in keeping with Patients Out of Borders.
However the high discount is not definitely worth the medical risk, warns Fox News contributor Dr. Marc Siegel.
One reason is that some patients have contracted antibiotic-resistant infections, as noted within the McAdams report.
“I absolutely do not like it for a number of reasons, one of which Alexis has already mentioned, which is infection, risk of resistant infections, tuberculosis-type infection, wound infections,” he told America’s Newsroom on Tuesday.
But Dr. Siegel also noted that even when he knows a trusted surgeon, he may not know other medical professionals involved in surgery, resembling an anesthesiologist – someone who has incredible control over a patient’s life.
“One other thing, people go there because they can not get approval for the procedure in the US,” he said. “Well, there could be a superb reason for that. Possibly I would not wish to operate on someone so young. I could not wish to perform an orthopedic procedure, resembling a knee alternative, on someone who is just too much obese.”
“There are so much of issues I have a look at once I clean someone up for surgery,” he continued. “I used to be really anxious about it.”
Earlier this month, 4 Americans were kidnapped and two killed in Matamoros, Mexico by the Gulf Cartel. One person went mountaineering to undergo a tummy tuck.