...
I know I don't need to restate this, but I will for the record: I think most prescription drugs are needless, and most are detrimental to your health. That having been said, I also know that most doctors deal out prescriptions like they're Halloween candy, and that most patients do what their doctors tell them to - which means somehow getting those prescriptions filled without going bankrupt.
So consider:
Fact #1: The pharmaceutical industry is this country's most profitable business.
Fact #2: Americans pay more for prescription drugs than citizens of any other country.
Fact #3: More than a million Americans save money by buying their prescription drugs in Canada. And technically, this makes every one of these people a criminal.
Almost exactly one year ago I wrote to you about the conflict brewing with regard to American citizens buying prescription drugs for far less money "over the border" in Canada. Currently, this practice is illegal. WHY it's against the law is a mystery to me - and to millions of others. Citizens of the U.S. are free to buy just about anything else across the borders of our neighboring countries (including alcohol), so why not prescription drugs? Don't we live in a "free market" society?
According to the FDA, it's about safety - they maintain that they'd be unable to ensure the quality of drugs purchased outside the U.S. But that's a load of bunk, because the vast majority of the pills Americans pop every day are made in factories FAR OUTSIDE our borders (Pfizer alone has manufacturing facilities in 32 different countries), then shipped in to be marked up a zillion times and sold to us, who have no other options. So I ask: If the drug you need (or that a doctor has TOLD you that you need) is made in Bangladesh, how is it any SAFER to buy it for $100 in the U.S. than for 50 bucks in Canada?
I'll tell you what the difference is: A 50% greater profit for the drug's manufacturer!
So why is the Food and Drug Administration playing "hired gun" for the drug business? Because the FDA is a government agency - it cannot exist if the state can't support it. That's why it needs to ensure drug makers' profits by road- blocking cheaper foreign drug sales. As long as we're all forced to buy our drugs for inflated prices here in the U.S, the government will continue to rake in money from the huge corporate and sales taxes they levy on the drug industry. It's nothing but legalized racketeering!
But according to a recent CBS News report, there's a grassroots revolution here in the U.S. to fight this one-sided tyranny of profit: The Mayor of Springfield,
Massachusetts struck a deal while in office (he's since been ousted) with a large Canadian pharmacy to provide his city's employees with reasonably priced prescription drugs - to the tune of a projected savings of up to $9 million a year for that municipality!
Yes, this policy violates U.S. law, but it represents the first volley in what's sure to be the next major war in the medical world. How the FDA responds to this heroic defiance of its unjust policy will surely set the tone for this brewing conflict. But if it's anything near as over-the-top as what I'm about to tell you, the future looks pretty bleak.
Wait! Theres More!
Imagine you're on a bus trip one fine spring day - just one more in a long succession of similar sojourns you've taken since June of 2000 as a member of the Minnesota Seniors Federation. The purpose? To buy your much-needed prescription drugs over the border in Canada, the only place you can afford them anymore...
Suddenly, while on the return trip from Winnipeg, the bus is pulled to a stop by FDA officials. They stomp onto the bus like jack-booted stormtroopers, inspecting every package, every bag - including the six-month stock of prescription medications you've just purchased (even though most of them are probably needless). You're left shaken and feeling like a criminal, which the FDA thugs just informed you that you actually ARE, and you wonder out loud:
"We've been taking these trips for years - why are they stopping us now?"
This isn't fiction. It actually happened not long ago to a busload of senior citizens aboard the "RX Express," a regular bus trip to a Canadian pharmacy subsidized entirely by Minnesota state senator, Mark Dayton, using his Senate salary.
Another of the upcoming drug war's patriots, Dayton (a rare free-market Democrat) is forcing the issue of cross-border competition in drug sales to the forefront. And after his letter of indignation to the FDA about this terrorization of his constituents, the agency issued a formal apology through a spokesperson, who called it "unfortunate" and "not consistent with current policy," according to news outlets.
But this doesn't sound too sincere to me. I think the FDA's "apology" is nothing more than a propaganda ploy to more widely publicize the incident - and make senior citizens think twice about buying their drugs in Canada, for fear of harassment. Time will tell, though, and I'll be watching the newswire closely for more on the REAL drug war we're all facing.
Cheers,
D
I know I don't need to restate this, but I will for the record: I think most prescription drugs are needless, and most are detrimental to your health. That having been said, I also know that most doctors deal out prescriptions like they're Halloween candy, and that most patients do what their doctors tell them to - which means somehow getting those prescriptions filled without going bankrupt.
So consider:
Fact #1: The pharmaceutical industry is this country's most profitable business.
Fact #2: Americans pay more for prescription drugs than citizens of any other country.
Fact #3: More than a million Americans save money by buying their prescription drugs in Canada. And technically, this makes every one of these people a criminal.
Almost exactly one year ago I wrote to you about the conflict brewing with regard to American citizens buying prescription drugs for far less money "over the border" in Canada. Currently, this practice is illegal. WHY it's against the law is a mystery to me - and to millions of others. Citizens of the U.S. are free to buy just about anything else across the borders of our neighboring countries (including alcohol), so why not prescription drugs? Don't we live in a "free market" society?
According to the FDA, it's about safety - they maintain that they'd be unable to ensure the quality of drugs purchased outside the U.S. But that's a load of bunk, because the vast majority of the pills Americans pop every day are made in factories FAR OUTSIDE our borders (Pfizer alone has manufacturing facilities in 32 different countries), then shipped in to be marked up a zillion times and sold to us, who have no other options. So I ask: If the drug you need (or that a doctor has TOLD you that you need) is made in Bangladesh, how is it any SAFER to buy it for $100 in the U.S. than for 50 bucks in Canada?
I'll tell you what the difference is: A 50% greater profit for the drug's manufacturer!
So why is the Food and Drug Administration playing "hired gun" for the drug business? Because the FDA is a government agency - it cannot exist if the state can't support it. That's why it needs to ensure drug makers' profits by road- blocking cheaper foreign drug sales. As long as we're all forced to buy our drugs for inflated prices here in the U.S, the government will continue to rake in money from the huge corporate and sales taxes they levy on the drug industry. It's nothing but legalized racketeering!
But according to a recent CBS News report, there's a grassroots revolution here in the U.S. to fight this one-sided tyranny of profit: The Mayor of Springfield,
Massachusetts struck a deal while in office (he's since been ousted) with a large Canadian pharmacy to provide his city's employees with reasonably priced prescription drugs - to the tune of a projected savings of up to $9 million a year for that municipality!
Yes, this policy violates U.S. law, but it represents the first volley in what's sure to be the next major war in the medical world. How the FDA responds to this heroic defiance of its unjust policy will surely set the tone for this brewing conflict. But if it's anything near as over-the-top as what I'm about to tell you, the future looks pretty bleak.
Wait! Theres More!
Imagine you're on a bus trip one fine spring day - just one more in a long succession of similar sojourns you've taken since June of 2000 as a member of the Minnesota Seniors Federation. The purpose? To buy your much-needed prescription drugs over the border in Canada, the only place you can afford them anymore...
Suddenly, while on the return trip from Winnipeg, the bus is pulled to a stop by FDA officials. They stomp onto the bus like jack-booted stormtroopers, inspecting every package, every bag - including the six-month stock of prescription medications you've just purchased (even though most of them are probably needless). You're left shaken and feeling like a criminal, which the FDA thugs just informed you that you actually ARE, and you wonder out loud:
"We've been taking these trips for years - why are they stopping us now?"
This isn't fiction. It actually happened not long ago to a busload of senior citizens aboard the "RX Express," a regular bus trip to a Canadian pharmacy subsidized entirely by Minnesota state senator, Mark Dayton, using his Senate salary.
Another of the upcoming drug war's patriots, Dayton (a rare free-market Democrat) is forcing the issue of cross-border competition in drug sales to the forefront. And after his letter of indignation to the FDA about this terrorization of his constituents, the agency issued a formal apology through a spokesperson, who called it "unfortunate" and "not consistent with current policy," according to news outlets.
But this doesn't sound too sincere to me. I think the FDA's "apology" is nothing more than a propaganda ploy to more widely publicize the incident - and make senior citizens think twice about buying their drugs in Canada, for fear of harassment. Time will tell, though, and I'll be watching the newswire closely for more on the REAL drug war we're all facing.
Cheers,
D
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