President Donald Trump has promised that the plan his administration rolled out Wednesday to bring in cheaper prescription drugs from Canada will immediately lower medication costs. Experts say the plan won’t work — and many write it off as a political stunt.
Under the proposal, importers would need the cooperation of the Canadian government and the drug industry, both of which oppose it. Importers would have to take many expensive and complicated steps to prove to the FDA that importation wouldn’t harm Americans, and to weave through complex regulations and the intricacies of the U.S. health delivery system.
Here are four reasons why Trump’s drug importation plan probably won’t work: