US drug companies are beating the drums to try to prevent Yanks from getting prescription drugs from Canada. Eli Lilly & Co.'s director of global product protection, Dillard W. “Buz” Howell II, said, "Counterfeits today are being sold through complex distribution networks with packaging that is often indistinguishable from our own, even by experts.
So, tell me, Canadians, was Buz Howell blowing smoke, or is it true? Does Canada have a big problem with counterfeit Prozac and Zyprexa?
For those who don’t know the background, Canada’s health insurance program negotiates with drug makers for lower prices. In the US, drug lobbyists convinced Congress to prevent the US Medicare program from doing any bargaining with drug makers. There’s a federal task force looking into whether to allow importation of Rx drugs. Drugmakers are trying to scare the panel, and the public. Howell also said that some of the criminal counterfeiters are linked to terrorists.
It’s not all p-r hype. There is no real problem with counterfeit drugs in Canada. The problem is all those internet drug stores claiming to sell drugs from Canada, many of which aren’t actually in Canada.
Just to clear up a few misconceptions: There’s no such thing as “Canada’s health insurance program.” Health care is under provincial jurisdiction, so each province is slightly different. In Ontario, basic health care is provided by the Ontario Health Insurance Program (OHIP). Dental, drugs and many optional procedures are covered only by private health plans (which we do have, as well). Other provinces may cover drugs, but I’m pretty sure not all of the others do.
IIRC, there is however, federal legislation which caps drug prices in some manner.
The quote in the OP seems to me to be deliberatly conflating the separate issues of counterfeiting, passing off a placebo as the real thing, and generic producing of the real drug. Scare tactics - “OOhhhh, don’t buy anything from abroad, because you can’t trust them”
Assuming that Canadian taxes subsidize the cost of those drugs, it is good if Americans are discouraged from taking advantage of that. I mean it would be wasting Canadian taxpayer’s money. (In Australia at least, for every $1 you spend on prescription medication, the government spends $5, and that is even higher if you have a health care card and I think psychiatric medications may involve higher subsidies too) If Americans want a better health system they should get their own, not weigh down others’.
About Australia’s health system: http://www.health.gov.au/pbs/general/real_cost.htm
Actually it seems some medications cost the government hundreds or thousands of dollars and patients might only pay up to $23.70 (or $3.80 with a concession card).
Sure, I understand that taxes pay for Canadians’ Rx drugs. In the US, taxes will pay for drugs for old folks. The difference is, Canada gets to bargain for the best price, and the US is forbidden to do that. Now, a drug maker has to make a profit. So, if only one nation is forbidden to get the best price for Rx drugs, that sucker nation (that’s us,) makes up the profit margin for drugs sold to Canada, the UK, and whoever else.
As I said, a drug maker has to make a profit. If the US were able to drive a hard bargain, the cost of drugs would be more fairly divided.