FDA allows Colorado drug imports, in theory - POLITICO
politico.com
The FDA's approval of Colorado's Canadian drug import plan is a live experiment in regulatory arbitrage — and a test of whether policy loopholes can actually break a market's pricing power.
Regulatory ArbitragePrice DiscriminationPrincipal-Agent ProblemMarket Segmentation
Theory Briefing
- The FDA gave Colorado the green light to import prescription drugs from Canada, a first-of-its-kind federal approval.
- Drug pricing in the U.S. relies on market segmentation — Canada's lower prices exist precisely because cross-border arbitrage has been blocked.
- The 'in theory' caveat signals that regulatory approval and real-world implementation are two very different things, a classic principal-agent gap.