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Politics : Stockman Scott's Political Debate Porch

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To: abuelita who wrote (60356)	10/14/2004 12:03:03 AM
From: Augustus Gloop	1 Recommendation Read Replies (5) of 89467

The Canadian Drug issue(s) Basics Before we go too deep we must first realize that a significant percentage of the drugs coming from Canada are from the EXACT same labs that make our drugs. They come in factory sealed containers and they come at reduced prices. The pricing discrepancy are a result of several differences. These differences are not unique to just Canada. MANY advanced nations with solid economies pay less for their drugs for a multitude of reasons. The first issue is how we (The US) purchase drugs. Canada purchases by province in bulk which results in lower pricing. We do not. The pricing is then improved even more because of the exchange rate. Furthermore, there are price controls (which I don't like - slippery slope) that factor into the equation. The end result is it becomes pretty god damn attractive when you have people making a choice between food or medicine. The Drug companies Upwards of 70%-75% of our nation enjoys a drug co-pay. While its a great benefit there is a downfall. The downfall is simple - we (with co-pay) don't have a clue about what the REAL costs of drugs are. We pay our $5.00-$20.00 and walk out without so much as a thought of what we just spent because WE DIDN'T have to pay directly. IF we did I can assure you that you'd see some rather hostile exchanges between the customer and pharmacist. The drug companies know this and have made a KILLING on non-direct transactions. This is what Bush tried (in his own way) to hit on tonight. When you don't have to pay to play you don't worry about the cost! That, my friend, is a road to hell that was paved with good intentions. Unfortunately it resulted in a blind consumer similar to those who lease their cars. But it doesn't end there because if it did we could fix it tomorrow. Safety As pointed out earlier, MOST drugs coming from Canada are both the same as what we get AND SAFE! However, not all Canadian pharmacies are playing clean ball. In fact there is a growing problem of knock off drugs being procured from places WE DON'T WANT TO BE BUYING DRUGS FROM! Vancouver is an international city with far reaching tentacles. And like most businesses, some Pharmacies are using their international reach to maximize profits on drugs without regard to the American consumers safety. I've been to facilities in BC and I know what I'm saying to be absolute FACT! There is an degree of the Wild West in this industry and the risk (while small) is only acceptable until someone you know dies. Fact To date the FDA cannot prove so much as a single death that is directly attributable to Canadian drugs. But fake drugs are coming to this country via Canada - its only a matter of time before a death follows. The argument that not even the drug companies have been wise enough to think of The United States pays more for their drugs than any other country on earth. Thats a pretty tough pill to swallow (pardon the pun) given the fact that we've developed (R&D) a fairly significant percentage of the drugs on the market. To be blunt - we basically subsidize the rest of the world on the backs of OUR consumers. Hell - we give the stuff away for nothing to a lot of countries. That doesn't sit well with me especially when I know that other developed nations can afford to AT LEAST share that burden but don't. Are you with me so far? Sounds pretty shitty right? Now for the dilemma. The Pitfall I have read literally 1000's of articles on this matter and not one of them has hit the nail on the head. I want our seniors and people in need to get their drugs for as little as possible. Anyone who says otherwise doesn't have a heart. But the fact is WE DO SUBSIDIZE a HUGE percentage of the globe on the backs of American consumers. We provide free drugs to less fortunate nations and get nothing in return - right? Wrong!!!! In what has now become a global village it is more important than ever that do this. The days of sailing for three months and exposing a culture with no immunity to some rogue disease, virus, etc. are OVER! We can now do it in hours. Because of this, as distasteful as it sounds, we have a vested interest in treating and containing these types of things before they reach us. Now there are some things we just can't stop. Aids is a perfect example. But there are many more that we can contain and probably have contained because of the way we've subsidized the globe on our backs. I'm not going to say that drug companies should get a 9 to 1 ROI. But what I will say is that 9 to 1 wont seem like too big a deal if some import from fckin Madagascar drags over some rogue disease from the pecker of a lemur and we lose 20% of our population because we didn't subsidize them with drugs and we have no natural immunity. Who knows how many times we may have already prevented an incident like this? The Rub* I'm all for finding a happy medium but we better be careful and do our homework. This is about WAY MORE than prices.

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