"-In 1999, first Member of Congress to take a busload of Americans across the border into Canada to purchase lower cost prescription drugs."
Chartered bus trips that began about a year ago in Vermont have inspired imitation in Western border states, even turning into campaign events in two U.S. Senate races this fall. Minnesota Democrat Mark Dayton took a busload of elderly drug buyers to Canada and won. Brian Schweitzer of Montana, also a Democrat, did the same but lost. After Rep. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) became the first member of Congress to host a bus trip last year, several of his colleagues followed suit.
As if they were three nations negotiating a trade treaty, Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont are forming a buying co-op to bring cheaper pharmaceuticals to their elderly residents. Some doctors in U.S. border communities have obtained licenses allowing them to prescribe directly to Canadian pharmacies. In towns such as Calais, Maine, patients simply stroll across a bridge to New Brunswick to buy medication.
Recently, a health care group here found a way around the ordeal of long bus rides to visit first a doctor, then a pharmacy in Canada. Using a prescription-like template, a handful of Vermont doctors faxes drug orders for patients to a Canadian pharmacy. The drugs are then shipped to the ordering doctor's office, where patients pick up their supply. Even with FedEx charges, the drugs usually cost U.S. patients a sliver of what they used to pay.
[link:
http://articles.latimes.com/2000/dec/04/news/mn-60970|
It means a lot to me that he has stuck to his message for as long that I've been able to give or withhold my support to any candidate. Even though I didn't know who he was, I've always supported his ideals and principles.
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