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Politics : Formerly About Advanced Micro Devices -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tejek who wrote (174685)	8/28/2003 2:03:54 PM
From: TimF	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1576806

First, some of the largest pharmaceutical companies in the world are European True, but more drug reseach is still done in the US, and also a lot of the research done in Europe is still in effect subsidized by American drug consumers. Secondly, I have never heard the argument that we pay more for our drugs and therefore, fund drug R & D. What is the source for this argument? I don't have one specific recent source, its more like all my knowledge about drug prices and research leads to that conclusion. If drugs research is expensive, and if we spend a lot on drugs while drug prices are limited in other countries we in effect subsidize those countries. I am far from the only person to reach this conclusion. I've seen it and heard it in a number of sources that I don't currently have available. A quick google search gave me a few new ones which you can see below. I don't agree with the conclusions of some of the articles or letters linked to below that we should regulate drug prices, but they all correctly make the point that we pay more for percription drugs that are still under patent then most other countries. _______________________ IMPORT CHEAPER DRUGS miami.com "You can save up to 50 percent off the cost of drugs by purchasing them through foreign pharmacies like the ones in Canada." mercola.com "Highest Prices in the World If you add up all the seniors covered by all the various sources of prescription drug coverage, 35% of the senior population still lacks coverage. That’s a serious problem, made all the more serious because seniors without coverage end up paying more for drugs than anyone else in the industrialized world! Why? Other western governments have national health plans that either negotiate prices with drug companies or establish price ceilings for every drug. Large insurance plans in the United States also negotiate drug prices. They use their power as large-scale purchasers to get the best deal. As a result, older Americans with no coverage (along with 44 million younger, uninsured Americans) are the only folks paying full retail at the pharmacy. The drug companies — forced to negotiate with all other payers — shift costs to U.S. seniors and make them subsidize the rest of the globe. " afscme.org " Tell me why the U.S. is one of the few countries that doesn't place government price restrictions on drugs. This makes for an uneven playing field in which insurance companies and patients in the U.S. support the profits and research of the pharmaceutical industry, while the world reaps the therapeutic benefit--at considerably lower expense. International pharmaceutical company self-regulation of drug pricing would be a step in the right direction. William Hummel, M.D. San Diego" businessweek.com A Huge Difference in Price Because other nations have price controls on drugs, savings across the border can be dramatic: A one-year supply of tamoxifen, a cancer suppressant widely prescribed for survivors of breast cancer, costs about $1,400 in the United States but just $125 in Canada. Ramona Christensen's 30-day supply of Lipitor, a drug used to lower cholesterol, costs $144 here and $85 in Canada. webmd.lycos.com Selling Life-Saving Drugs to Poorer Countries: At What Cost? upenn.edu