U.S. seniors bypass law, cross border to fill prescriptions

Houston Chronicle ^ | 6/8/03

[Dubya]

Your Canadian Pharmacy Connection

[stars & stripes forever]

Rep. Ron Wilson, D-Houston, gave recognition to this ingrained form of drug-running.

Typical. Reminds me of when Clinton appointees smuggled the illegal, conterfeit Peking the Panda into the United States during the Bill & Hillary World Tour at the peak of the Beanie Baby craze, causing the prices to tumble. No one stopped them either.

[FairWitness]

According to an Act UP web site (not likely biased for drug companies):
"Overall profits of Fortune 500 companies declined by 53% in 2001, while the top 10 US drug makers increased profits by 32% from $28bn (20bn; 31bn) to $37bn, according to Public Citizen's analysis of the Fortune 500 data. Together the 10 drug companies in the list had the greatest return on revenues, reporting a profit of 18.5 cents for every dollar of sales, eight times higher than the median for all Fortune 500 industries, which was 2.2 cents."

Think about that folks. Taking that at face value, if the drug companies lowered prices just 20% across the board they would presumably end up with no profits. How do you suppose Mexico and Canada get to charge so much less? Would you like our U.S. companies to charge half of what they do and go out of business, or at the very least develop no new drugs?

[FairWitness]

pharmaceutical companies spend far more on advertising in the US than they do on R&D,

My understanding is that a large fraction of what is lumped under advertising is free samples given to Doctors who in turn give them to patients - in other words free drugs. Yes, that is "advertising", but it is not what most people think of when they hear the word advertising.

[CyberAnt]

I order mine over the internet - through a legal drugstore in Canada. My doctor sends them the prescription form. I get a 3 months supply for 1/3 the cost - and it goes through customs. It's all above board and legal.

I don't buy stuff that I don't know where it came from. I would never go to Mexico and buy anything; and it's only a 38 mile drive.

[biffalobull]

They pass on those expenses by taxing the hell out of people.

Not quite right ,Sonny.

The income base in Canada is about 30% on the first 60000.00. Each adult is exempt on the first 7500. Then you can deduct 18% or 13,500., which is ever is the lessor for your Registered Retirement Plan.

Your RSP is self administered, and guaranteed by the bank.

It earns interest tax free, until you are 69 years old. At that time you pay tax on whatever amount you take out.

In Alberta I pay about 45.00 a month, which covers everything. When I had a family of four, it was 220.00 every three months. You have to pay 25% of your drugs. up to 25.00 per prescription.As far as waiting to go to the hospital, you will have to wait for elective surgery.

You can call it what you want, but there isn't a better health care system in the world. The biggest amount of it is paid for by the Federal and Provincial Govts. This is merely giving the people back some of the taxes they have collected. Regards

[Dubya]

Senior Health

FDA Regulations For Bringing in Medications From a Foreign Country

A 1998 amendment allows a United States resident to import up to 50 dosage units of a controlled medication without a valid prescription at an international land border. These medications must be declared upon arrival, be for your own personal use and in their original container. However, travelers should be aware that drug products which are not approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration may not be acceptable for such importation.

It is against the law not to properly declare imported medications to U.S. Customs. lt is important to have medications in the originally-dispensed container;

[TexasCowboy]

For those who can make the trip:

Progresso is clean and friendly.
The pharmacies there are all going to be about the same price so there's no need to shop for bargains, in my opinion.
Take the cash.
Park on the US side in the parking lot and walk across.
Walk down the right side of the bridge and return on the opposite side of the bridge.
You probably don't need a prescription, but if you do, the pharmacy can recommend a doctor close by to write one for ten bucks. I've gotten a lot of prescription drugs and never had a prescription.
I buy a year's supply when I go. The men at the checkpoint look for hard drugs, not pharmaceuticals.

[FairWitness]

Follow up to #24: A study by researchers at the Stanford Center for Research in Disease Prevention estimated that the industry spent $12.7 billion promoting its products in 1998. Of this amount, free samples given to physicians totaled $6.6 billion of retail value, representing 51.9 percent of the drug promotion expenditures.

[Catspaw]

We had elderly friends who spent the winters in Rockport TX. They'd head down to Nuevo Progresso for their prescriptions a few days after they set up their RV and lay in their supplies. They said Nuevo Progresso was so much different--nicer--than other Mexican border towns.

[Dubya]

Good info COBI.
Another place I went over to Mexico was Ciudad Juarez. We parked on the US side, walked over, hirred a guy who spoke english with a horse and buggy for $5 bucks who took all over. We didn't buy anything, just looking.

Anyone who crosses the border had better be careful.

[Dubya]

[areafiftyone]

It goes two ways. When they jack up prices so seniors have to choose between eating and medicine to stay alive. If my mother (who was a diabetic with high blood pressure) had to choose between eating (which is essential when you are a diabetic) and medicine - she would of course choose eating! If it weren't for me she would never have gotten her medicine and would not have lived as long as she did. These drug companies are paying tons of money on advertising right now. Everytime you turn on the tv you are bombarded with drug commercials like they are advertising candy! In the meantime prescriptions are going up and up! Even the co-pays are rising if you have insurance! Its too much for seniors on a fixed income. They have to develop some sort of prescription drug program for senior so maybe seniors won't have to make that trip. We do very little for our seniors here in this country this is the least we can do for them.

[Snowyman]

I don't have the figures handy, but advertising costs are in the billions , many times what is spent on R&D and "freebies" are costs which are recovered, not given away. That also means free trips , dinners, tickets, etc. I read somewhere that there are over 600 registered paid drug lobbyists in Washington.

I don't know if this is accurate, perhaps dated , or who supports this site ,

, http://home.covad.net/~wacitizenaction/programs/rxmyths.htm

[TexasCowboy]

"We do very little for our seniors here in this country this is the least we can do for them."

The next well on which I will supervise will be in deep South Texas.
I will be glad to help if I can.

cob1@addr.com

[FairWitness]

I don't have the figures handy, but advertising costs are in the billions ,

See #29. Yes, freebies (meaning free samples) are included in tax deductions, but they don't just disappear, they are given to patients. Thats free drugs for consumers. Imagine Ford or Chevy giving $6.6 billion worth of cars away! In addition, most companies have "patient in need" programs for critical medications where they give away or heavily subsidize medicines for folks who can't afford to buy them. It may take some looking but you mioght be surprised what is available.

[freekitty]

And what are these people and others suppose to do when no one can afford anything anymore?

[cksharks]

And with all of these these seniors not one of them would be alive if the drug companies OF THE UNITED STATES had not made these drugs.

[areafiftyone]

I don't know. To be honest, I don't have any solutions to this problem. I don't like socialized medicine or anything like that. But we have to do something at least for seniors. Hopefully Bush will come out with something before these Democreeps run away with the issue. I can only speak from my experience with my mother before she died. I know its not the case with everyone but there are a hell of alot of seniors suffering and i just feel for them.

[areafiftyone]

That is true I can't argue with you. But we need to help them to lessen their costs!