(2003-08-27) Canadian Rx Policy

Interesting critique of Canadian HealthCare policy re Prescription Drugs. Canada finances its drug habit by stealing - it steals the research that underpins the drugs it craves. But that research won't occur unless someone is willing to pay for it. That someone has been the American consumer. If the US Congress introduces Canadian-style price controls and allows re-importation of Canadian drugs whose prices do not reflect the research effort required to keep the flow of badly needed new drugs, it may mean lower prices for already discovered drugs in the short term. But in the long term the result will be fewer new drugs, prolonged pain and many preventable deaths.