Is it still worth it to get medicine from Canada?
 

Around 2001, I was doing consulting for a medications price comparison company and we did some linkages with an online canadian pharmacy. Huge market because of the disparity in price between the SAME medicine sold in the US and those sold in Canada. Same brand. Same dosage. Vastly different pricing.

I have been living overseas since 2003 so I ask... is the price difference still that large? Also, is it illegal to bring medicines bought in India to the US? The price difference is HUGE between Indian branded medication and US medication.

What do you guys think about this?

most meds here just have a dispensing fee as far as i know, when i go get pretnazone for my dog "same as for humans" which is a steroid its 14 bucks weather i get 5 - 10 - 50, i DOUBT that would be the case in the states.

When I was taking care of my Father I used to order his meds from Canada. That was in 2005. Unbelievably huge savings. It's outrageous what we pay here in the states.

Well it certainly is when you live here :P

It sure can be. For example. I take Advair for Asthma. The cheapest place I can find it here in the states is at costco and it is around $300 for a 30 day supply. From canada it is around $120 for the same medicine.

I have been told that you can legally carry up to a 90 day supply of medicine back into the country with you. As for it coming through the mail it can be a crap shoot. If they stop it and inspect it you could have it confiscated and sent back. I have no idea how often something like that happens.

These people love buying (illegal) prescription drugs from India.

http://www.drugbuyers.com/freeboard/...Board/5/page/1

US pricing is outrageous. Pharma companies say it's all about "recouping research costs". I understand. That's necessary but the price differences are fucked up. Oh well, is it fair to bitch about pricing because if prices were lowered they'd claim that it DISINCENTIVIZES research and innovation.....?

You guys agree with that line of argument....?

Canadian pharmacuetical companies seem to be getting a decent amount of research done in spite of our lower prices. Same with those in India, so I don't know how much water that argument actually holds. Seems like very little to me.

US drug companies seem to just want to keep prices high and hold Americans hostage to their high prices. I feel sorry for a lot of you but especially the elderly on fixed incomes.

Most of the argument that they are recouping costs is bunk. Most new drugs are just improved versions of older drugs. Add in the fact that much of the actual research on different drugs is done by government funded research centers. Sure, these companies still do put money into research, but they spend far more on marketing.

Take this for example. I use an medicine called albuterol. It is an asthma inhaler. Last year 1 inhaler cost better $9-$12 depending on where I bought it. They modified the inhaler because the propellant that was used in it had CFCs. This meant they had to get a non CFC propellant (just like hair spray, spray paint or any aerosol has had to do.) the cost went from $9-$12 each up to $32-$49 each. The only thing they changed is the propellant and they tripled the price. But I didn't see the cost of spray paint, hair spray or air in a can to clean your computer triple in price.

They charge this much because they can. They also have two different prices. One is for insurance companies and one is a cash price. Say you have a $10 co-pay on prescriptions and the insurance tells the pharmacy the max they will pay for that prescription is $60. Then the pharmacy charges you $70 for it. You pay $10 and your insurance pays the other $60. Then someone without insurance comes in and buys the exact same medicine and pays with cash and they charge them $95+ for the same thing. IMO things like that shouldn't be allowed. If a company was selling TV's to one group of people for one price, the overcharging another group for the same product they would be investigated.

The sad part is that it won't be changing any time soon

It's worth it if you get Cold-FX -- which is a sold-in-Canada only cold remedy that works incredibly well. Next time you're in Canada, buy some and take it back home with you for the next time you have a cold. It'll totally be worth it.

As for the online spam pharmacies that stuff all of our mailboxes every day, I wouldn't go near those.

Two words you need to know:

NEO CITRAN

2 Neo's and you won't even remember you were sick, or took them, in the morning

My wife's a former med rep. It's insane how much the marketing budgets of pharma companies are. Free trips for doctors, all sorts of swag. Would be nice if it didn't come from the "spread" between US prices and non-US prices. :helpme:mad:

Yeah it is crazy. I go to a specialist for my asthma and every time I go they hook me up with about 6 months worth of free medicine. Once I asked him why they always give me so much and he tells me that he has a deal with them to get a lot of samples. He said that they offer to take him on "retreats" where they would fly he and his family to somewhere great like Hawaii or Paris or some other great vacation local. He would have to spend about 3 hours listening to their sales pitch on this product and others they have coming out then he is free to do what he wants for the rest of the week. So it is a free vacation with first class airfare and top of the line accommodations. So he asks if, instead, they will give him the cost equivalent in free samples. He tells them he likes their drug and prescribes it to a lot of his patients. Since he is an allergy and asthma specialist they know he writes a ton of scripts for it. So since he doesn't take the vacation they load him up with free samples and he just gives them away because he knows how expensive it is.

I was pretty impressed. It is pretty honorable of him to pass up a free first class vacation for his family in order to get free meds for his patients.

Still. If they are willing to drop that much on him, I wonder how many doctors nationwide they offer it to? I would guess thousands a year.

Bump for a key piece in the whole national healthcare debate

grow your own ;)