Did you know....the Canadian Govt. "group buys" drugs for Canadians

[cthrumatrix]

Our wonderful congress/senate have seen fit to "preclude" the US Govt from doing this is the medicare reform bill.

This is why Candian drugs are soo cheap. They group buy and sell the drugs to the drugstores and paharmacies (info from Dick Durbin last night)


This single act alone shows no interest in reducing costs now...or in the future.

This is insane. We use 60% of the drugs and pay more than anybody in the world.

[fencesitter]

1. Yes, and the bill

prohibits medicare from using its massive purchasing power to buy bulk drugs that would cut into pharmacutical industry profits. Guess who wrote this bill?

[LincolnMcGrath]

2. Uuuuummmmmm

Drug co.s and insurance co.s


Do I get the prize. This bill will raise drug costs for Most seniors.

[izzie]

18. And the drug co. will still be paid half the cost from the tax payers?

Hell the price of drugs will go sky high if this is the plan. The companies already know we can pay what we are paying now so they will raise cost untill that half is what the cost is now and pull the other half out of tax payers money. What kind of deal is this?Their profits will be double and the tax payers will still pay them to dream up new pills.Are the tax payers nuts and what about congress?

[Think Globally]

3. Maybe we should move to Canada!

This is what you can do when you don't spend billions for guns!

[adriennel]

4. Robber Barons of the 21st Century

Yup! That's what I've been saying!

Especially for those of us who live so close to Canada (just miles from lovely Detroit!)

The pharmaceutical company rap is that they need to recoup high development costs. I realize R&D is expensive, but it doesn't explain why Americans are paying more than Canadians. And there is a big push from the pharm companies to extend patents on their products to prevent the sale of generics.

I thought the Canadian model was being tossed around before the Repug Medicare bill. It's pretty much dead now. I've lost all hope. There is no way a majority of Americans can boycott these meds (including myself). The US government and pharmaceutical companies are robbing Americans BLIND for a product necessary to life. That's freedom.

We have little recourse now.

[FlaGranny]

11. R&D IS expensive, but

we pay for much of it with subsidies to the drug companies. What is REALLY expensive is all the totally unnecessary ads for "purple pills." What the heck for, to get patients to ask for that new cute purple pill? Patient asks doctor, doctor says, you don't havegastroesophageal reflux disease, you don't need that. But patient says, maybe I do have it, I had some heartburn last month after I ate that pizza at midnight and went to bed right afterward; couldn't I have some just to see?

Advertising for medications used to be against the law, for good reason. Advertising for attorneys was also once against the law, also, I think, for good reason. If we need certain drugs or legal advice, we are perfectly capable of obtaining them.

[Fescue4u]

14. No kidding

What amazing is that sometimes they waste money on advertising, without even explaining what the drug does.

Why? To get name recognition out there.

I dunno, it seems to me that drugs should be sold on need, as opposed to slick advertising.

[adriennel]

15. agreed! ads are wrong

my doctor said more and more people are requesting prescriptions for medications that they've seen advertised. This is messed up. Call me old-fashioned, but I think prescription suggestions should be made by a physician!

I do laugh at some of the commercials though....take this pill for heartburn but watch out for the side effects: headache, fatigue, vomitting, constipation, tremors, "sexual side effects", uncontrollable diarrhea, hives, leprosy, your butt will fall off....wait, what is this med helping again?

[sweetheart]

5. bulk purchases of cannabis and cocaine and viagra

could really keep the price down, whilst making drugs available to seniors without the street markup. Its a crime that we can't copy a policy so grounded in sanity. ;-)

[The Backlash Cometh]

6. I wonder if globalization will allow us to forgo American pharmecuticals

and buy our prescription medications from Canada?

[sandnsea]

7. All countries do

Every country in the world has some sort of cap or other government program to control the price of medication. We're the only country who intentionally let's people die for corporations.

[FlaGranny]

8. Sure I know. That's why they're so much cheaper in Canada.

Our lovely government wouldn't think of doing such a thing as negotiation. They've even prohibited it.

[izzie]

9. Well the drug companies do not have all the money yet.

If anyone has any money the GOP will have it before long.It is a strang way to fix a problem. About 10% of old people have trouble and it is with the many drugs they need and the over price drugs so to let this thing pass is a sin as far as I can see.I my self think we take to many pills any how.

[Fescue4u]

10. Just like Walmart!

Now wait a second..when Walmart uses its massive purchasing power to buy in bulk and drive costs down, its considered evil.

But when Canada uses it massive purchasing power to buy in bulk, its consider progress?

Somethings not right here.

Thats the thing with huge purchasers...its makes it impossible for smaller manufacturers/vendors to survive.

I hate the thought of only be able to get the medicine that government or walmart chooses for me.

(just to clarify, this is not condemnation of universal medicine, but of monopolistic buying)

[FlaGranny]

12. Do you understand the difference between people and

corporations? It doesn't appear so.

[Fescue4u]

13. Uh yes.

Care to expand on that vague..uh whatever it was?

[terrisel]

16. World Population = 6 billion=Lots of customers

They don't have to hold us captive. There are 6 billion potential customers in the world. Even subtracting the ones "too poor" for drug companies to want to pursue--still leaves a lot of potential customers.

They keep reaching into our pockets because it's an easy business model-a sweet deal. Pay Bush X dollars and he delivers a captive customer base and they get huge profits.

It will keep happening until we make it stop.

At this point our government is too corrupt to be given our medicare payroll tax. It is going down the same hole that 87 1/2 billion and the budget surplus went.

We need Gore's lockbox model and we need to start shouting for it now.

When we want to keep our money for ourselves and or families, as badly as Bush and the drug ceos want to steal it, we will win.

[cthrumatrix]

17. 45 Million in the US without health insurance = bankruptcy and more

reliance upon the government.

Medical bills are the largest single source of bankrupcty