Question about importing drugs from Canada?

[monkee]

Okay, maybe I'm confused about how all this works, but I've been thinking about this issue and I just don't see how importing drugs would work.

My understanding is that the Canadian government buys their drugs and gets a "bulk rate". I would imagine that the amount of drugs that Canada buys would be nowhere near the number that the people in the U.S. buy. So they're able to get a cheaper rate since there is only one central buyer for the whole thing.

Now, if we started importing the drugs more cheaply from Canada, wouldn't it make sense that (a)the amount that Canada would need to buy would skyrocket, perhaps causing shortages; and/or (b) that the drug companies would stop giving Canada a cut rate? They say they need the higher prices for research and development (which I would assume is at least partly true) and so I can't see how they would let the market in the U.S. basically "dry up" while still giving Canada a price break. It just seems to me that the idea of importing wouldn't make much sense since the drug companies would almost have to raise their prices.

Am I missing something here?

[luvmetender]

So are you in agreement that all the drugs come from the same source, and the US doesn't have to worry about unsafe sources? (like Bush claims)

[mrbowler]

That is a great question regarding supply, but you have to look at importation as a short term measure that treats only the symptoms, not the disease. The real problem is price gouging in the U.S., and that will require more fundamental reform-which will most likely not occur until drug companies are forced to. IMO

Some great points-heck I don't pretend to know all this.

Read This:

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“The people who say you have to worry about the safety of drugs from Canada are imagining the way it was in the old days. That there's a moat around the United States that drugs that are sold in the United States are made by only American companies. And made in this country,” says Angell.

“It's not that way any more. Pfizer, for example, has 60 manufacturing sites in 32 countries. So the drugs are made all over the world. They're sold all over the world.”

[crazytimes]

It drugs from Canada aren't safe, than what drugs are Canadians using? That's what baffles me.

[mrbowler]

Some of these reforms would do the trick? Read the entire article
It's a eye-opener.

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The industry’s best-kept secret is that it’s not very innovative at all. In 2002 the Food and Drug Administration approved 78 new drugs, of which only seven were truly innovative—defined as containing new active ingredients and likely to be better than drugs already on the market to treat the same condition. And not one of the seven came from the major American drugmakers. Instead, they came from European companies or biotech firms.

In fact, of all the drugs the FDA has approved over the past six years, fully 78 percent were classified as unlikely to be better than existing ones. And 60 percent didn’t even contain new active ingredients. They were just old drugs in slightly different forms—"me-too" drugs.

[mrbowler]

Here's some ideas being kicked around:

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"Simply put, there are too many patients our pharmacists never see because they cannot afford the drugs we dispense, and others who are unable to pay for a full regimen of medications because it soaks up so much of their disposable income."

"The United States cannot bear the cost of R&D for the world," said Ryan. "International trade negotiations are one place where the U.S. can begin to lead the way to establishing a more appropriate, market-based pricing system with our trading partners. In the longer-term, the answer must be fair and equitable trade practices and open access. We cannot allow millions of our fellow citizens to go without life sustaining medications due to arbitrary international trade practices. We don't do it for sugar, rice or corn; we shouldn't do it for life saving medications."

[monkee]

Some good points, mrbowler, thanks.

I guess that's kind of what I'm thinking. Just saying "we're going to allow importation of drugs from Canada" doesn't seem like it's going to work at all. There would need to be a fundamental change in how the whole thing works here in the U.S. instead of just trying to "get around" the drug prices here. Allowing importation seems short-sighted.

[mrbowler]

Originally Posted by monkee

Some good points, mrbowler, thanks.

I guess that's kind of what I'm thinking. Just saying "we're going to allow importation of drugs from Canada" doesn't seem like it's going to work at all. There would need to be a fundamental change in how the whole thing works here in the U.S. instead of just trying to "get around" the drug prices here. Allowing importation seems short-sighted.

Importation of drugs will test the ideas-allow a short term solution for some folks, and to see if companies just increase production to outside countries(canada, mexico, australia). If this causes problems it will force both sides to negotiate a different pricing system. Even without importation would like to see some of the reforms tried.

[luvmetender]

Why is it okay to get flu shots from Canada now that we have a shortage? Bush has approved this.

[monkee]

Originally Posted by luvmetender

Why is it okay to get flu shots from Canada now that we have a shortage? Bush has approved this.

Actually, I don't know. Maybe it's because he's d*mned if he does, d*mned if he doesn't?

Why are you trying to turn this thread into another attack on Bush?