Posted on 03/04/2009 7:28:00 PM PST by rabscuttle385
or maybe we should ban car imports. Sorry, no more Toyotas because cheaper, better cars are hurting Ford’s R&D
I take an ARB, Diovan, for my high blood pressure and it costs me over $100 to refill it.
It’s not expired in terms of its patent, so doesn’t come in generic form.
Believe me, if I could buy it cheaper, I would!!
Ed
Shutting down medical research in the world.
Great for your wallet right now. BUT- The American market and its patent protection are 100% of the reason that there is any medical research at all. Even foreign companies that develop new drugs do it for the American market.If we substitute foreign acquired drugs we weaken and ultimately destroy the engine of medical research. And if you think well that's okay, we are at such a high level of medicine right now, we can afford to say "thus far and no farther," well, there is the problem of antibiotics. Bacteria and viruses are living creatures and they mutate and antibiotics lose their effectiveness over time and have to be replaced. That requires expensive medical research. If a company cannot make its research expenses back with a period of monopoly patent protection, new drugs- new antibiotics- will not be produced and after a time we are back to about 1910 medically. Without effective antibiotics, every disease is far more potentially fatal and things we take for granted, like knee replacements' success will be measured by survival rates and mostly won't be done at all. Every sort of medical operation will carry a much higher fatality rate. Hospitals will truly be places to die.
Agree completely. There will be plenty of unintended consequences.
Your analogy sucks. In this case, the drug companies will be competing against themselves.
Businesses in general have the right to sell the same product for different prices in different markets. Buyers in general have the right to shop around internationally for the best deal. Pharma, and pharma alone, has the special monopoly privilege of federal legislation preventing consumers from shopping around for their products. This is what McCain's legislation, which he promoted during the campaign, would change.
Sorry, but your Kool-Aid prescription is out of refills and no longer renewable.
Pharma, and pharma alone, has the special monopoly privilege of federal legislation preventing consumers from shopping around for their products.
Source please. And there are reasons for such controls, which have to do with public safety.
There are plenty of US products that are cheaper overseas than they are here, mainly due to the fact that the products would not be competitive in poorer markets. I can buy a pair of Nike snearkers cheaper in Seoul than I can here. Do you think Nike would allow its dealers in Seoul to sell their sneakers here?
I understand you argument, but why do all the other countries get a price break and it is up to the American public to bear the major costs of the research and development? I do not like subsidizing the rest of the world, just so they can buy cheap Rx drugs. It seems totally unfair to me.
If the Americans don’t do it no one will and THERE WILL BE NO MORE RESEARCH. Buy where it is legally cheapest. You should do no other, but you should also fight the legalization of buying foreign drugs. Supporting this measure is very much akin to shooting yourself in the knee with 00 buck.
I can buy a pair of Nike sneakers cheaper in Seoul than I can here. Do you think Nike would allow its dealers in Seoul to sell their sneakers here?
The only leverage Nike, or any other company has when it sells cheaper overseas is threatening to cancel its contract with the foreign customer if it sells out of its designated region. The US government does nothing to enforce the arrangement. But because the Internet acts as the great disintermediator, smoothing markets for goods all over the world, such arrangements are notoriously 'leaky'. An American (or other) consumer can always find some place willing to sell at the lowest price. The result is that American consumers enjoy the lowest prices in the world for most consumer goods, including those produced overseas. Asian electronics, cars, and cameras sell for less in the US than they do in their own countries. Such is the power of the marketplace.
Pharma sales are the exception: US law explicitly forbids shopping around by consumers, which is precisely why McCain is trying to get drug importation legalized. If pharma weren't a special case, there would be no need for this bill. And "public safety", my rosy pink butt. Since we're talking about the FDA-approved real thing here, not knockoffs, there is no differential in safety.
You seem to have some idealized view of how international trade works. FYI: We are not playing on an even playing field. Foreign governments are manipulating currencies and subsidizing exports to make them more attractive to the American consumer. And they use various ways of making imports from the US more expensive and less attractive to their own consumers. It is why we have such huge trade deficits with these countries.
The answer is that when Canada "bargains" with Pfizer or Eli Lilly it implicitly threatens to ignore the American companies' intellectual property rights. For example, if "negotiations" break down and the American company refuses to sell at the price Canada is asking, Canada reserves the right to ignore the drug patent and allow its domestic firms to produce a generic equivalent - a procedure called "compulsory licensing." In effect Canada says: Give us your drugs at a price we dictate or we'll ignore your patent and produce them ourselves.
The Impact of a Misaligned Yen on U.S. Automakers
The result is that American consumers enjoy the lowest prices in the world for most consumer goods, including those produced overseas. Asian electronics, cars, and cameras sell for less in the US than they do in their own countries. Such is the power of the marketplace.
LOL. First, taxes have alot to do with the price of consumer goods abroad, e.g., VAT, excise, etc. It is why gasoline is so much more expensive in Europe for example and cheaper in China.
There are plenty of places around the globe that have cheaper prices for consumer goods, e.g., Dubai, Honk Kong, etc.
Pharma sales are the exception: US law explicitly forbids shopping around by consumers, which is precisely why McCain is trying to get drug importation legalized. If pharma weren't a special case, there would be no need for this bill. And "public safety", my rosy pink butt. Since we're talking about the FDA-approved real thing here, not knockoffs, there is no differential in safety.
You should read the link I provided you on the situation in Canada. Should such a law pass, our drug companies would have to ramp up the production of brand name drugs for export so that they could be resold back to us at cheaper prices. Such a solution would hurt our drug industry and development of new drugs. There are also intellectual property and patent issues.
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