Health minister warns that Canada cannot be 'the drug store of the United States'

Kansas City ^

[maui_hawaii]

BOSTON - Canada's health minister said Wednesday that his country "cannot be the drug store of the United States" - a warning that comes as several states are pushing to buy low-cost prescription drugs north of the border.

"It is difficult for me to conceive of how a small country like Canada could meet the prescription drug needs of approximately 280 million Americans without putting our own supply at serious risk," Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh said in prepared text for a speech at Harvard Medical School.

Business has been booming for Canadian Internet pharmacies that take orders from Americans looking to buy Canadian drugs made less expensive by government price controls. Busloads of Americans cross the border to take advantage of Canadian drug prices that can be as much as 80 percent lower in some instances, according to a congressional study.

Dosanjh said Canadian health officials have found no evidence so far of shortages in Canada, but he predicted potential problems down the road if demand increases.

"To me it is a matter of common sense that Canada cannot be the drug store of the United States," he said. "Neither American consumers nor Canadian suppliers should have any illusions otherwise."

[FormerACLUmember]

I believe the drug purchasers have no recourse if the Canadian drugs are injurious.

[Publius]

Yes, Ujjal Dosanjh is a real person. I had lunch with him in September 1999 in Vancouver, BC as part of a junket by rail from Seattle to Vancouver and back for the Amtrak Reform Council.

They had one Canadian per table full of Americans to help stimulate conversation, and my table got Ujjal, who was then a provincial cabinet minister in British Columbia from the New Democratic Party. The NDP is to the left of our Democratic Party, even to the left of the Howard Dean wing.

It was a fascinating lunch.

[BikerNYC]

Then the Canadians will require proof of resedency to get their drugs.

That's fine. Our government, however, should not interfere with Americans buying lawful products overseas.

[Rusty0604]

If drug companies don't give in to the price caps of other countries, the other countries won't honor the patents and will reproduce the drugs

[xJones]

and my table got Ujjal, who was then a provincial cabinet minister in British Columbia from the New Democratic Party. The NDP is to the left of our Democratic Party, even to the left of the Howard Dean wing.

Thank you, a very informative report. I guess this doesn't bode well for the Americans using Canadian pharmacies.

[stopillegalimmigration]

Fair enough. Does this mean we can elect to stop being the employment office for all of the world then?

[eagle11]

Ujjal Dosanjh is a native of India. He served as Premier of British Columbia and is a Liberal Party delegate from Vancouver.

"Dosanjh, who hails from Dosanjh Kalan, near Phagwara, and moved to Canada as a teenager, is a lawyer by profession and headed the NDP Government in British Columbia. After the last provincial elections a couple of years ago, he quit politics and joined the law practice of his two sons.

(from Tribune India, January 26, 2003)

http://www.tribuneindia.com/2003/20030126/spectrum/main8.htm

IF YOU MUST KNOW.....

[Snowyman]

I would like to know if the people in Canada who purchase prescriptions have the right to sue the drug manufacturers

I'm not sure but I do know settlements and awards by the courts are not as high as in the US . Advertising of drugs is not allowed in Canada and if you do a bit of research you'll find that all the big multinational drug companies spend more on advertising than they do on R& D. That and buying in bulk is a great advantage for both buyer and seller . Twenty year patents don't hurt either.

[drtom]

Question: if a drug company X sells drug Y to a population of 300 million for 100% of their asking price, and they make profit P which we baseline as 100%. Then they have a secondary market of 10% of the 300 million and they have to sell it for, let's say, 30% of the above asking price. This secondary market will increase P from 100% to 103%.

For the additional 3% they incur the danger of alienating the original market, have people travel up there and therefore reduce P, have potential patent infringement and what not. Major risk management required which could, if it's going awry, ruin the company as a whole.

Why would any drug company be interested in that?

I think it is sheer greed. It's the same like airfare depending on the point of origin. A return flight from New York to Ireland is $1200 while the exact same flight booked in Ireland is $700.

Drug companies try to reap every cent they can. They rather take 3% additional profit than foregoing a market.

[Torie]

Every leak in the dike to bring down this house of cards helps. I am hoping it collapses during Bush's second term, so he rather than Hillary can address the fix.

[RedLightBob]

Yeah. You touch on a really valid point.

The geo-political-economic pressures definitely are a factor here.

One of the greatest most positive [and underreported] things coming out of the tragedy of 9/11, was cheap AIDS drugs for Africa - caused by a similar dynamic.

Bob.