Text 3697, 66 rader
Skriven 2004-10-17 18:25:00 av Jeff Binkley (1:226/600)
Ärende: Canadian drugs
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The solution is to go at the source of why the drugs are so expensive instead
of trying to find ways to beat the system (that Kerry and others erected).

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http://news.ft.com/cms/s/1138adf6-2076-11d9-af19-00000e2511c8.html

Canada deals blow to cheap US drug imports
By Bernard Simon in Toronto
Published: October 17 2004 21:47 | Last updated: October 17 2004 21:47

More than 30 Canadian internet pharmacies have decided not to accept bulk
orders of prescription drugs from US states and municipalities.

The move delivers a potentially serious setback to US politicians most notably
Democratic presidential candidate John Kerry campaigning to give Americans
easier access to cheap drugs from Canada.

Mr Kerry has argued that opening the US to Canadian imports could help lower
the costs of prescription drugs for elderly Americans. Such reimportation has
become one of the points of difference between him and President George W. Bush
during the election campaign.

But growing concern in Canada that growing exports to the US could lead to
rising prices and shortages north of the border has prompted the Canadian
International Pharmacy Association (Cipa), whose members include several of the
biggest internet and mail-order drugstores, to act. We don't want to give
Americans the impression that we have unlimited supply for them to tap into on
a commercial basis, said David Mackay, the association's executive director.
Americans, he added, can't get everything from Canada. We can't be your
complete drugstore.

Prescription drug prices are significantly lower in Canada than the US, because
of price controls and bulk buying by the 10 provinces. Individual Americans
have crossed the border for years to buy cheap medicines, but the internet and
spiralling healthcare costs in the US have led to a wider movement for states
and cities to source the drugs they need from Canada. Several states, such as
Minnesota and New Hampshire, have set up websites directing residents to
approved pharmacies in Canada. Cipa members would continue to service these
customers, Mr Mackay said, but would not deal with states such as Illinois and
Wisconsin that have proposed turning over their entire supply system to a
Canadian internet pharmacy.

Cipa members make up about a quarter of the roughly 150 internet pharmacies
operating in Canada, raising the question whether others will follow its lead.
Mr Mackay said discussion had been heated at an all-day meeting of Cipa last
month at which the new policy was approved. With pharmaceutical manufacturers
seeking to restrict supplies and the US Congressional Budget Office recently
saying that reimportation from Canada would have a negligible impact on US
drugs spending, the internet pharmacies have already had difficulty meeting
demand from south of the border.

Several have set up alliances with pharmacies in other countries. A sharp rise
in the Canadian dollar has also squeezed profits.

Ujjal Dosanjh, Canada's health minister, said over the weekend that he was not
concerned at this point either about domestic shortages or the safety of
Canadian medicines.

Still, public opinion appears to be gradually turning against the online
operators. Canadian Treatment Action Council, a lobby group representing
pharmacists and patients, is due to speak out today against drug exports to the
US.

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