Sick brit

[Dan White]

But if you have no money, even if you are an illegal alien, you get free medical attention.

dwhite

[Daniel H]

[snip]

Overpriced in Canada, or overpriced in general? My local Home Depot sells for $570 CAD, the US price is likely close to $350 USD.

I don't have my heart set on it, it's just that I think it will end up being a nice jointer at the USD price. Do you have an alternative I should be looking at?

- Daniel

[George]

Since the market there calls for a different configuration, doubtful. Don't know precisely, but think 16% is VAT on top of what duty and shipping cost.

[GregP]

Bush doesn't get money out of a turnip: he wouldn't dare try because the turnip might complain, not give him a campaign "contribution," or not vote for him. Instead, he's taking the easy way out: take money from people who haven't even been born yet.

[GregP]

Nice description of the administration refusing to let Americans buy drugs in Canada.

[James T. Kirby]

Greg - you just need to remember who's markets a free market system is supposed to be good for :^)

JK

[Dave Hinz]

Another lie, Greg, and you should know it. You can go to Canada and buy whatever the hell you want; tour busses full of people go there regularly. The question you're neglecting to think about, is _why are they cheaper there_? I'll save you some time - because the Canadian Government refuses to pay more, so the USA'n consumer gets to finance their cheap drugs.

Rather than figuring out how to ship this stuff around the globe, why not look at what your boy Kerry has done about it? (hint: not a damn thing).

[Al Reid]

Canadian officials have come out against the exporting of drugs to the US since it is believed that it will lead to higher prices and shortages for the Canadians. So even if the administration decides to allow it, it still won't happen. It would also increase the chances of harmful drugs making their way across the border and doing more harm than good. Although I believe that drug prices are too high and that far too much money is spent by the drug companies on advertising, I don't think that reimportation from Canada will be beneficial in the long term.

[Doug Winterburn]

You don't even need to go to Canada to purchase Canadian drugs. My sister gets my mothers prescriptions filled via mail order from Canada. Greg (even though I don't see his posts) appears to continue to be clueless.

-Doug

[James T. Kirby]

Well, yeah, except that is what the feds are trying to cut off. Hopefully this little piece of free market economy will survive.

JK

[Doug Winterburn]

Sorry, but the feds are not trying to stop individuals from buying drugs in Canada. They're not now and have not allowed commercial importation of Canadian drugs. They may allow importation in the future on a case by case basis as approved by the FDA.

-Doug

[James T. Kirby]

As approved by the FDA? These are mostly American made drugs, already approved by the FDA.

[Paul Kierstead]

I'd just like to clarify what you are saying here: The drug companies sell into canada at a lower price and actually *lose* money, which they make up from profits off the backs of hard-working Americans. So they sell to Canada just out of the goodness of their hearts?

PK

[Doug Winterburn]

Some are, but *most* are not. None of my mothers are US manufactured. Mostly French.

-Doug

[AAvK]

If he wins then believe it... you'll be a turnip.

Alex

[Dave Hinz]

The concerns are real. Is that real (drug), or a fake copy of (drug)? What is the chain of control of the drugs? Have they been stored and transported properly? Drugs can be temperature sensitive, light sensitive, degrade over relatively short time periods, and so on. It should go without saying, but some of the spammers who claim to be selling "cheap Canadian drugs" aren't really in Canada, aren't selling legitimate drugs, and aren't going to send you what you pay for if you get anything at all.

If it's the right drug, _and_ it's safe, _and_ the Canadian government is happy to let their socialized medicine continue to pay for discounts for USA'n consumers, _then_ this would work. There are a couple problems with that, not the least of which is Canada not being eager to do so.

The real problem continues to be that someone needs to pay for this drug research. These things cost money, sometimes an obscene amount of money, to develop. That cost has to be met somehow, and if Canada is refusing to pay their part, then it has to come from, for instance, us. Maybe the question shouldn't be "how can we import cheaper drugs from Canada"< but it should be "How can we get Canada to start paying their fair share of the costs?"

Dave Hinz

[Dave Hinz]

This, I think we cannot be in disagreement about, right?

I'm not sure they're losing, but if we're paying more than a Canadian for the same thing, one of us is financing the other.

Since the Canadians aren't paying their share, yes, we're paying it for them. How else would you explain the different pricing?

They're probably making a profit on the per-unit costs (incremental), but we get to pay for the startup costs (the research). Been a long time since economics class so I probably fluffed the terminology, but it's the same reason that American TV can sell you a Sony for less than the wholesale cost paid by a smaller vendor.

Dave Hinz

[James T. Kirby]

Millions of dead Canadians provide the case in point.

[Dave Hinz]

I notice you snipped where I listed those concerns, including safe transport and storage, and verification that the source really _is_ a Canadian pharmacy. Wonder why that is...

[James T. Kirby]

Probably because a lot of those concerns are the obvious road blocks that would be suggested by an industry trying to maintain its government-blessed monopoly, avoiding the problem of having to deal with a true free market for as long as possible.