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:: posted by buermann @ 2008-01-17 17:09:57 CST |
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Why why WHY do most of these candidates think that the solution to lower drug prices is to import them from other countries? It's all fun and games until you get a bad batch from outside the U.S. (and yes folks, counterfeit drugs can even come from good ol' Canada). Then everyone runs around with their hands on their heads screaming 'How could this have happened??' and Oprah does a big expose on the folly of imported drugs. Here's a thought: there needs to be a cap on drug costs. Either the feds need to do it directly, as in 'Hey Pfizer or GSK, if you charge more than $50 for this drug, you aren't allowed to sell it in the U.S.'...or indirectly, as in we implement some form of nationalized health care and the feds have a formulary that mandates less expensive meds first. There you have it. Market forces? That's voodoo. Everyone's a greedy bastard.
posted by leahaz
@ 2008-01-17 21:20:34 | link
It's called haggling. Canada haggles with our drug companies, gets them at a lower price, and sells them back to us cheaper than we can get them, because our major drug buyer is barred from haggling. If counterfeits were such a big problem in Canada then simply allowing medicare to engage in normal market behavior would amount to the same difference.Nobody's suggested price caps to my knowledge. If you want to go that far just end patent monopolies and make every drug a generic product from competing manufacturers.
posted by buermann
@ 2008-01-18 09:54:39 | link
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