Medications' prices



Two U.S. Senators have re-introduced legislation that would allow Americans to purchase medicines from Canada. Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and John McCain (R-Az.) have advocated the Safe and Affordable Drugs from Canada Act.

The bill would permit Americans, who must have a valid prescription from a physician licensed in the U.S., to order up to a 90-day supply of medicines from a licensed Canadian pharmacy. Prescription drugs would have to have the same active ingredients, dosage form, and potency as medicines that are approved by the FDA.

Whether the legislation will progress is uncertain. The bill introduced last year went nowhere, despite bi-partisan sponsorship. Nonetheless, the effort may gain some attention at a time when prices for medicines from the latest cancer treatments to some older generic salves are rising at a rapid pace. The cost of new hepatitis C medicines, for instance, prompted a Congressional hearing last year.

“The cheaper alternatives [in Canada] come with the same safety standards and are the same dosages sold in the U.S, but currently law prevents Americans from importing them and benefiting from the savings,”  Klobuchar says in a statement. “That just doesn’t make sense.”

Maine began allowing its residents to purchase prescription drugs from some pharmacies in the U.K., Canada, New Zealand and Australia. The first-in-the-nation law garnered support from the business community, but has come under attack by the pharmaceutical industry.

Drug makers have argued.....   filed lawsuit in hopes of overturning the state law. 
Canadian pharmacy may not resell drugs from online pharmacies located outside Canada to the U.S. 

Klobuchar  was one of several senators to introduce legislation to allow Medicare to negotiate prices with drug makers and last year she co-sponsored a bill that would restrict patent settlements between drug makers that can delay the introduction of lower-cost generic drugs.

Prices of medications in Canada is 30% the prices in USA.  Passing this law will even the prices in both countries.
Just a thought.