bull. i know this is long, but read it all. i've researched the hell out of this issue. why? because this is not a hypothetical situation for me. it's a real situation that my wife and i face every month, and it makes me so angry i want to blow a fuse just thinking about it!
the drug companies spend billions upon billions of dollars in slick promotions. did you see ads for prescriptions meds on primetime tv (or on tv at all) 10 years ago? five? did you pick up a magazine a few years ago and see ad after ad for prescription medication? they don't even tell you what it's FOR -- just "ask your doctor about _______."
they have us going to our doctors to ASK FOR THEIR DRUGS now!
americans have figured out that we can get the SAME medication (sometimes it's even -gasp- american-made medication!) for a LOT less money in canada.
does that make sense? listen -- go to another country, and get your prescriptions filled. you will get AMERICAN MEDICATION but pay 1/4 of what you'd pay for it on US soil. this is not about "safety."
YOU, as a US citizen pay $200/month for the SAME PILLS that someone in germany pays $30 for -- the same AMERICAN-MADE MEDICINE!
as for the "risk" factor -- there's a risk when you take ANY medication. i would not advise taking meds formulated in some countries (like india), but "canadian medicine" is often AMERICAN-MADE MEDICINE -- sold cheaply to canada and filled cheaply in canadian pharmacies.
and what of american medication "safety?" there's been case after case after case of american-made prescription medication that have been found to be tampered with, reformulated, watered down (so to speak) and otherwise not what it's supposed to be.
no, this is not about lawsuits; it's about the fact that US pharmaceutical companies are shaking down the american public for every penny they can get -- to pay for the slick ads and the primetime t.v. spots and the millions of bucks they put towards promotional materials for doctors -- from cheapie pens and t-shirts and mugs to rolex watches and golf vacations (er, seminars i mean!) and $300/per mont blanc pens to those doctors who push enough of their particular brand of drugs... so the pharm companies can make MORE money.
ask a financial consultant what to invest in -- american pharmaceuticals. because they're safer? no -- because if you invest in it, you will get rich. period. because american citizens pay mark-ups in the thousands of dollars; other countries citizens won't stand for it. we accept it with little question.
what pharm companies lose to lawsuits is a DROP IN THE BUCKET compared to what they spend on bribing health care workers into prescribing their brand of medicine.
it's funny how i needed a much-promoted $300/mo medication until my insurance ran out -- and then my doctor "just remembered" something comparable that only cost $8.79/mo out of pocket -- and that's the one doctor i have who is ethical enough to even TELL me about the cheaper medication.
here in wilmington, there's a small business that -- at no charge to the patient -- will put the patient in contact with a reputable canadian pharmacy to fill their prescriptions. if you have no insurance, if you're on medicare, they'll work with you to get this set up, and then you deal with the pharmacy on your own. the state pharmacy board is now threatening to take them to court in order to shut them down.
seems like old folks end up paying about $100-200/month in canada -- and over $1,000 out of pocket for getting their prescriptions filled here. and the pharmacy board wants this to stop, by gosh, because they're losing buckets of money.
btw, not a single person who has used this service has had a single complaint about their medication from canada. not one in hundreds who have used this service.
and how "safe" is it when an american has to choose between whether or not he's going to pay his mortgage and have groceries that month -- or if he's going to spend that money to take the medication he needs?
this is not a hypothetical situation for me.
it's embarrassing and humiliating as hell, but i'll tell you here and now that this is the exact situation i faced personally. every single month it's "do we pay the heating bill or get your medication?" or "do we live on more than mac and cheese for lunch all week or get your prescriptions filled?"
and it is HUMILIATING to have worked hard all my life and played by the book and been a "good american citizen" and now know that our electricity might get cut off because my doctor just tacked on yet another $300/month prescription. (our electric bill in the winter is that much). we cut back and conserve, cut back and conserve -- we own our car outright (sold the one i was making payments on).
for those who say "well, sell your computer if you're so poor!" first off, my computer isn't worth $50. "well, stop paying to be online and save $20 a month!" -- i pre-paid my connection back when i was still working and required it. trust me -- we are on a tight, tight, tight budget, even though now, thank god, some of my meds finally came out in generic form.
it's still tight. it's still juggle-the-bills.
and just last month i was put on yet another prescription. guess what? it's advertised all over the place. go figure.
