Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America quietly funded a National Sheriff's Association ad campaign designed to scare the public out of supporting the importation of cheaper medicines from Canada and other countries, Bloomberg reported Wednesday.

PhRMA, through a separate nonprofit, gave the sheriff's association at least $900,000 in grants to produce the ads, with NSA keeping at least $125,000 for itself, according to the news site. NSA then ran ads with disclaimers alleging it had paid for them when the money actually originated with the pharmaceutical industry.

The ads made questionable claims about the safety of medications imported from other countries, Bloomberg reported. PhRMA did not respond to the news site's specific questions but acknowledged it gives money to the nonprofit—the Partnership for Safe Medicines—that awarded NSA the grants. NSA did not respond to requests for comment. https://bloom.bg/2PhRSfu

In a statement on its website, the Partnership for Safe Medicines responded to the Bloomberg report by alleging the news site had spent the past few months intentionally seeking out sources to make it look bad. The group also said the reporting "was particularly focused on funding and not interested in people's concern about the safety of importation."

"We respect good journalism (it's needed now more than ever), but the thousands of concerned families and patients that we've met and worked with over the years deserve more from Bloomberg," the group said. http://bit.ly/2WciUGG

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