Posted on 06/06/2012 4:33:40 PM PDT by Sam Gamgee
In a recent 43-54 vote, the U.S. Senate defeated a proposed amendment to the FDA Safety and Innovation Act (S.3187), which we previously reported on here, that would have allowed Americans to purchase drugs from Canadian pharmacies. The Amendment, proposed by Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) sought to lower the cost of prescription drugs for Americans.
In the days leading up to the vote, McCain had been critical of the pharmaceutical industry for lobbying the Senate to defeat the Amendment. "In a normal world, this would probably require a voice vote, but what we're about to see is the incredible influence of the special interests, particularly pharma, here in Washington, that keeps people who cannot--that have to make a choice between eating and medicine," McCain said. "So what you're about to see is the reason for the cynicism that people have for the way we do things in Washington. Pharma, one of the most powerful lobbies in Washington, will exert its influence again at the expense of average, low income Americans who, again, will have to choose between medication and eating."
(Excerpt) Read more at fdalawyersblog.com ...
You made a fool of yourself the first time around, inviting it again?
John McCain is just another idiot who doesn't have a clue about which side of his bread is buttered. I wish he would just go away.....and take his blow pig daughter with him.
Man, how I despise socialists.
The socialists who get their incomes from corporate government are making a few Americans pay the special (high) American prices to the big drug companies for their prescriptions. Then they lie about it all on political discussion boards.
After Billy Jeff sold them all that AIDS blood from Ark prisoners? Sure let’s buy drugs from those guys, they don’t have any reason to dislike US.
Like the big government statist like Marco Rubio whose bread is buttered by Merck?
Canada allows is people to guy generic alternatives while American politicians stick it to health consumers.
You are a misinformed fool putting it out for all to see. And you admitted that “cheaper” drugs in Canada is a result of government interference, and, as a result, is not free market.
Then explain why the GOP rejected this bill that would get generic drugs quicker to market. Proof again the GOP is the party of corporate fascists. Americans know that replacing Democrats is only a replacement of much of the same. Stooges for Merck - Rubio and friends. In any case the Congress is meant to represent the people, not big business donors. What the Canadian market is, is not the problem of US consumers. You also have no proof Canada caps prices, other than one province. You are the fool suckered into voting for the same old good old boy party.
http://projects.washingtonpost.com/congress/112/senate/2/votes/105/
I don’t believe many Americans realize just how much more we pay for prescription drugs. In some cases it is as much as 500 or 600% more.
I gave you proof that Canada caps the price of drugs, you conceded the point, it wasn’t one province, it is CANADA!
And you tried the lame argument that it is suppressing free market capitalism. If CANADA regulates the prices that drugs can be sold for, then it is no longer free market.
http://www.canadadrugtalk.com/prices/
That is a Canadian propaganda site, oh how wonderful it is that CANADA caps the prices of drugs. Not to mention, CANADA limits the number of drugs allowed in; it takes longer for newer meds to reach patients in CANADA!
There is a reason for generic drugs to take a while to come to market, again, drug companies invest BILLIONS to bring a drug to market. Not every drug they invest in makes it through clinical trials, meaning that money is thrown down the drain, gone. So, when one does make it to market, after FDA scrutiny for years, the drug company needs to make money to recover any of the money they invested in research to bring that drug to market.
Now, if you don’t want there to be money making in pharmaceuticals, by all means, run them out of business. There won’t be generics, because there won’t be first line drugs to knock off.
Nine out of ten of all new drug therapies are discovered in the US. Countries that practice pharmaceutical price controls don't discover new drugs. But they do force those who do invest the billions of dollars required, over a period that averages 13 years, to sell those products at prices they deem as fair, not what the market will bear. Gotta keep the socialist masses happy. If the drug companies refuse to cooperate, these people will gladly turn the NME over to their generic industries while thumbing their collectivist noses at international patent law. These people are scum, they are collectivists, and they are leeches. Nice company you keep.
I want my children to have access to more new drugs that treat disease, not less. How some people think differently is absolutely mind-boggling. I guess they believe that as long as they get theirs, screw everyone else. How conservative. How pathetic.
You should run for their Presidency, you're clearly qualified.
I find it interesting that on a site where people have decried riding without a helmet because they have to pay for it (not true as a rule), that people are firmly coming down on the side of paying 5-6 times as much as elsewhere (or more) for pharmaceuticals that are routinely billed to our government through Medicare and Medicaid.
Check out prescription prices from the Canadian pharmacy sites, then call Walmart and compare their prices.
It's pretty clear to me that the availability of easy money from the federal government keeps American drug prices artificially elevated. Free market economic forces aren't in play at all.
I'm not an expert, but I don't completely buy the story that lower Canadian drug prices are a result of government subsidies.
If we then allow these cheap drugs back into the US, the drug makers can't recoup their investment and will stop making new drugs.
So that's your choice, cheap drugs now with no new ones or more expensive drugs and continued research.
Only the people who understand the economics of the business.
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