Posted on 10/07/2004 2:40:15 PM PDT by OESY
...The John-John ticket's hare-brained idea is to reimport medicines from Canada to your corner pharmacy. That is to say, to take drugs made here and shipped to supply a country of 30 million, and bring them back here to supply a country of 360 million.
Does any Democrat have an abacus?
...Last decade, companies like Novartis (Swiss), Aventis (French) and Pharmacia (Swedish) moved their operations from Europe to the greener pastures of New Jersey and Massachusetts because Europe's governments were making it too hard to do business. They even banned direct-to-consumer advertising lest citizens get wind of any pricey new discoveries and demand Europe's national health systems pay for them. The reimportation debacle is now causing similar consternation here.
The Beacon Hill Institute: ... Boston could stand to lose 4,000 jobs as a result of the reimportation of drugs. By effectively importing price controls, the group said, the measure would stifle innovation and damage the local high-tech economy.
Kerry has shaken his fist at the "outsourcers" of American jobs but what exactly does he think causes job flight in the first place?....
Skip past the campaign slogans to the realities. Drugs are arguably the most important thing that Americans buy they not only lengthen life but improve its quality. Right around the corner, thanks to the crazy gambles drug investors have been willing to take, may be the first real treatments for Alzheimers, which afflicts nearly half of all Americans who reach age 85.
And the "astronomical" prices seem like pocket change next to what the same people spend on lattes and impulse purchases. Celebrex is considered an "expensive" drug at $2 a day, but for an arthritis sufferer looking for something beyond aspirin or motrin, it's a pretty cheap "miracle."...
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Why do the drug companies sell to these countries at reduced prices not factoring in R&D, only production costs.? Why can't the drug co's set the same prices from country to country, thus eliminating the drug re-importation scheme as an issue?
Ever stop to think what would happen if people in the US were able to import Canadian drugs? The "big savings" they all claim would disappear. The price of drugs in Canada would go up or availability would decrease. The Canadians would be making it illegal for us to export drugs from them!
This relates to post 20 "go-dubya-04"
I personally am not in favour of ordering medications online for the reasons you have cited.
As I told go-dubya-04 I am not aware of any case where drugs originating in Canada were fake or dangerous. Canadian drugs have to satisfy Canadian quality and safety standards as the US. In fact FDA approval is no guarantee that a drug will be approved for distribution in Canada.
In the cases you cite, neither problem was due to the quality of the Canadian drugs, rather they were not properly administered by the 'pharmacy' and repeated attempts to correct the situation failed.
Either way you look at it this is a dangerous situation and the company should be reported Health Canada and the Competition Bureau which handles fraudulent and dangerous business practices.
As I said I drugs should only be purchased from a reputable retailer under a doctor's supervision.
Make them illegal and we can all get them on the cheap.
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