We have bought two drug prescriptions from Canada for $600.00.

[mmonk]

The cost of these two prescriptions in the US is $1,800.00. I would like to thank the Canadian DU'ers such as JBoy that confirmed the legitimacy of the pharmacy we purchased from and OneGrassRoot (from here) for telling me about this pharmacy. I can't for the life of me understand Americans that want to keep our current system to the point of fighting about it and threatening politicians that want to help our citizens survive the highest cost system in the history of humanity. We decided to do this because we have a high deductable ($5,450.00) in order to keep our health insurance premiums between $800.00 and $900.00 instead of over $1,000.00 a month. We put up with a lot of abuse in this country for no good reason.

[RKP5637]

1. Americans think abuse is the American way and don't even recognize it because

much of the nation is brainwashed to accept it as the norm.

[RegieRocker]

2. Some of it is investments in this corporation or that and

that is why they do nothing.

[WhaTHellsgoingonhere]

44. Americans would be better off if our taxes were higher.

The cost of medication, insurance, and products on whole would be lower, as would the unemployment rate, since the cost per employee would be lower.

Even Republicans whine about the cost of medication and insurance, but they don't see the connection.

It's the biggest con of all pulled off by the Republicons. Big Pharma and insurance companies have us over a barrel because they've brainwashed more than 50% of the population into thinking taxes are always bad.

[RKP5637]

54. I was just looking at the enormous amount I pay for health insurance. One would

think the majority of Americans would be very much in favor of lowering insurance rates across the board, but apparently not. We just have sooooo many Americans that willfully choose to be stupid and gullible. It's amazing.

If any historians survive this will have to go down in history as the decades of willful stupidity. Other periods of history will be known for advancements, significant achievements. We will go down in history as the generations of willful stupidity and gullibility, the manipulated and propagandized.

[TheDebbieDee]

66. I agree! We would come out ahead in the trade-off

between taxes and healthcare......and everything else, for that matter.

We especially need to increase US corporate taxes so that these companies have less money with which to influence elections and buy off politicians.

[ejpoeta]

100. are you kidding? they did a 'you paid for it' local story about the

freeloading medicaid patients taking FREE RIDES to the hospital in ambulances!! such a rampant problem!! and there are 'frequent flyers'!! who go all the time for things that AREN"T EMERGENCIES!! that's the only abuse they are interested in. all us lazy freeloaders bilking the system to get free rides to the ER.

[dotymed]

102. I have insurance

I hate ambulance rides. I have driven myself to hospital during 3 heart attacks. I know it is not smart but the ambulances (2) that I rode on, both had to detour to pick up medicines to give me..... I had the damn meds at home!

[ejpoeta]

111. they want to charge a copay to prevent folks from using the ambulance.

truly, they may not be 'emergencies' but who are we to start bitching about why someone is using an ambulance. they are POOR. even a small amount is too much for them. this is just another way to demonize the poor lazy freeloaders. look at them!! just taking an ambulance because they CAN!!! the rest of us have to pay a copay,but they get free rides in ambulances!!! that isn't what they said in words.... but that is what they meant.

[RKP5637]

112. There is certainly a lack of humanity in the US, Inc. of today. Perhaps a

better name would be United Sociopaths, Inc.

[Leithan]

3. Oh noes! Teh Canucks!

Dem prescriptions goin' turn you into hockey-lovin' zombies who eat unnaturally-shaped bacon! ;P

[mmonk]

4. I'm already one of those kind of zombies.

:-)

[Leithan]

7. GO BRUINS!

;-)

[mmonk]

9. The team that for some reason we can't seem to beat this year.

They stop our winning streaks everytime this year.

[Leithan]

12. Who's your team?

If you don't mind me asking.

[mmonk]

13. The Canes.

I was at the RBC Center watching a game last night.

[Leithan]

15. Good team

As you know, they hoisted the Cup just a few years back, something the Bruins haven't done since 1972. :-(

[mmonk]

18. Here was my post in the sports forum from last night with a video.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=215x172615

I feel the Bruins will be hoisting the cup again real soon.
The game 7 in the finals in 2006 wore me out because we stood the whole game. By the third period, my legs were jello. But I'll never forget it.

[glinda]

82. We are too! Can you email me so I can see if where we get my

husband's meds from in Canada are the same place? We had had questions about the drug quality but any info would be helpful. They were late with his last batch and somehow had to get it from India or somewhere.

[xchrom]

5. recommend

[jpak]

6. When I live in Canada, I was shocked how affordable prescriptions were

Canada's system is far superior to ours.

yup

[howmad1]

68. But, but, but;

Don't you have to wait three years to have a tooth pulled?

[OnlinePoker]

72. Dental isn't counted as health care in Canada

If you need something done and can't afford it, you wait.

[DissedByBush]

71. Because we subsidize Canada's drugs

Big pharma sells cheap where the government restricts the price.

Then they sell very high priced here to make up for it.

Not so much superior, but mooching off of us.

This system is kept in place by generous donations to the campaigns of all of our politicians.

[daleo]

75. Canadians aren't mooching

You're just being exploited. It's not a zero sum game.

[laundry_queen]

97. +1 nt

[spooky3]

76. Pharmaceuticals have among the highest profit margins of any industry.

If the Republicans hadn't enacted a law preventing plans from negotiating over drug costs, our drug prices would be similar to those in Germany, France, Canada, etc. So let's place the blame where it should be - on that law and not on the Canadians. Just as you would expect pharma to make as big a profit as it could, you should expect the Canadian (and every other) govt. to try to get the prices of necessities as low as they can be while giving a fair profit to the producers.

Our taxes also provide a lot of the research and development money that all who take medicine benefit from.

[DissedByBush]

78. It's not the fault of the Canadians

Our government allows this situation. Big pharma doesn't mind because it gets paid.

We are the source of their profits and their R&D money.

Everybody else basically pays for the drugs.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

77. As a translator, I once translated the vanity autobiography of the president of

a Japanese pharmaceutical company. He ADMITTED that they price gouge in the U.S., because the U.S. is the only Western country that doesn't regulate drug prices.

I always wondered why, if the "we need to recoup our R&D expenses" excuse was valid, the prescription allergy meds I took when I lived in Portland cost $57 a month when they were brand new and $87 a month two years later when Claritin went OTC and I switched to it.

[spooky3]

87. big pharma spends far more on marketing than on R&D

it's a phony excuse.

[unblock]

80. big pharma would not be selling to canada at restricted prices if they didn't make a profit

if selling to canada were at a loss, they would just say no. it's not like they get to charge an arm and a leg in the u.s. ONLY because they agree to sell at a loss to foreign countries. i mean, who would be forcing them to do that?

no, sorry, they make a profit selling to canada and anywhere else they do business. the extra that they charge in the u.s. extra profit and waste, mostly in the form of commissions for the army of sales reps that would be drastically smaller in a single payer model.

[spooky3]

88. exactly

[Hannah Bell]

101. global pharma profit margins are cited at 14-26%. we're subsidizing no one except big pharma.

http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/flowchart/2009/08/25/why-health-insurers-make-lousy-villains.html

Pharmaceutical companies have a profit margin of 16.4 percent—seventh highest of the 215 industries that Morningstar tracks....

http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/content/full/171/12/1451

Although the pharmaceutical industry claims to be a high-risk business, year after year drug companies enjoy higher profits than any other industry. In 2002, for example, the top 10 drug companies in the United States had a median profit margin of 17%, compared with only 3.1% for all the other industries on the Fortune 500 list.1 Indeed, subtracting losses from gains, those 10 companies made more in profits that year than the other 490 companies put together. Pfizer, the world's number-one drug company, had a profit margin of 26% of sales. In 2003, for the first time in over 2 decades, the pharmaceutical industry fell slightly from its number-one spot to third, but this was explained by special circumstances, including Pfizer's purchase of another drug giant, Pharmacia, which cut into its profits for the year. The industry's profits were still an extraordinary 14% of sales, well above the median of 4.6% for other industries.2 A business that is consistently so profitable can hardly be considered risky.

[obxhead]

8. The people that put politicians and party above the people

disgust me. It is really simple. We must come first, not any politician.

[RKP5637]

55. I have no idea how this will get turned around anymore. People keep getting

slammed around, but yet many just don't seem to get it, that the politicians they love to vote for are screwing them over and over, but they just don't get it... I just get soooo disgusted with the entire thing.

[malaise]

10. It's globalization for cheap labor but not

for cheap drugs.

On the 66th anniversary of Bob Marley's birth
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CE1d9MQKNK4

[Enthusiast]

86. That is the real irritating point.

If anything is anti-American this is the perfect example.

[dotymed]

103. Hell no,

that would affect the PROFITS of BIG PHARMA. Screw the people who need to survive...they don't own lobbyists and politicians.
I guess I'll have to forget the "Peaceful Revolution" idea.
I thought DU'ers would be more interested.

[OneGrassRoot]

11. Amen. Glad it all worked out for you. :) n/t

[mmonk]

14. Thanks.

:hug:

You helped make it possible.

[Frustratedlady]

16. I like to ask a question...

I know of a person who started buying Plavix this way. Some of us were concerned about the penalty, if any. Could anyone explain if there is a penalty? It is obscene that there is that much of a span in the cost.

[mmonk]

21. I do not know.

However, if you have a prescription and give it to a licensed pharmacist, I don't know why they would penalize you.

[mikehiggins]

17. legitimacy is a problem

there are as many "foreign pharmacies" on the web as there are people from Nigeria who are anxious to send you quadra-zillions of dollars because you have the same last name as someone who was eaten alive by fire-ants and left the money in a bank account that happened to have the same name as you.

Nothing could be as depressing as getting an ED medication that melts your brain.

Well, I guess it would only be depressing until your brain melted beyond some hypothetical point, but my concerns are fairly clear. How can you tell? Is there a BBB listing or something?

A concerned public wants to know.

[mmonk]

20. They have to be certified by CIPA.

It's best to go to CIPA's website to determine who is and isn't legitimate because some claim they are that aren't.

Here: http://www.cipa.com/verify-pharmacy/

[Frustratedlady]

22. But are there any penalties for shipping them into the US?

I have another friend whose meds are $1900/month and she is struggling to pay her other bills because of her insurance costs.

[mmonk]

25. I don't know but the one we used has an office in the US (Washington state).

The pharmacy is in BC. They are essentially mailed in the US.

[Frustratedlady]

26. I'll pass on the information. It would be good if she didn't have to

pinch her pennies. She has Parkinson's disease and is in her late 70s. Poor thing. I give her extra food like soups, casseroles, etc., which tide her over, but I'm going to run out of excuses for why I'm giving them to her. She is proud and would be humiliated if she thought I was doing it because I was afraid she didn't have enough to eat.

There are all kinds of criminals and pharmaceuticals top the list in my book.

[mmonk]

28. I understand.

You're a good friend to her. Maybe this is a way her burden can be reduced. We did it because a physician suggested it since our deductable was fairly large.

[Citizen Worker]

84. Can you provide the name or web address of the pharmacy? I have lost my medical insurance and will

have to pay for several prescriptions. Even with "prescription coverage" my end was still $88.00 per month. If I can save a few bucks that would certainly help.

Thanks

[SOS]

34. It's OK

The FDA allows 90-day supply of imported drugs for personal use.

A side note on foreign drugs:
My dog had a bladder infection. The vet charged me $180 for a cycle of augmentin aka Clavamox.
A friend was going to Greece. Augmentin is OTC in Greece.
He brought me back three times the vet quantity for $11.

I now had Augmentin in stock at 1/48th the US extortion price.
The next time my little buddy had had a bladder infection, I followed the vet's guidelines using the Greek Clavamox.

We must go around this exploitative system however we can.

[RKP5637]

57. I buy my cat's medication from a pharmacy in Canada for a fraction of what

my vet wants, and it's exactly the same medication/manufacturer, but sold in Australia and New Zealand. This place is such a ripoff. It's disgusting.

[customerserviceguy]

43. Right now, the worst that could happen

other than getting bogus drugs, of course, is that US Customs would confiscate the package. Now, if a substantial minority of US citizens and residents were to get drugs that way, that might just change.

I'm not too worried about it, the fear-mongering that US pharma manufacturers, and their partners in crime, the US drug chains do is sufficient to keep the numbers of people doing this manageable. As long as we sneak in under the radar, we'll be fine.

[Frustratedlady]

49. Well, I wouldn't want to suggest this method to her and get her in trouble.

She has enough to worry about.

The post about the pharmacy in Washington state filling the prescription from Canada looked like a way around the problem without penalty or getting her in trouble.

This shouldn't even be necessary.

[customerserviceguy]

52. There's no 'trouble'

Sounds like she's hung up on hyper-obedience, and that's how the drug companies and the pharmacy chains make sure that she pays big money for her fear.

Like I said in another post on this thread, there's enough fear-mongering out there to keep the numbers of people doing this quite low. It keeps it viable for me that so many are so fearful.

[Shagbark Hickory]

70. Yeah "F" rating. Operates from a PO box,

[dkf]

19. $600 is crazy too.

[KillCapitalism]

23. I thought so too.

I wonder what residents in countries like Denmark, Norway, or Sweden paty for the same drug.

[mmonk]

24. For many standard prescriptions or drugs, yes.

This particular one was for knee injections.

[KansasVoter]

31. I used to think so, but if you research how expensive it is to bring drugs to market....

it starts making sense.

So many drugs fail in phase 2 or 3 testing and at that point you have already spent 500 million to a billion dollars.

So you need to work those costs into the cost of the drugs that make it or go out of business.

And some drugs are only for a few thousand people which means the cost is broken up over fewer patients.

But it is true US Sales cover the discounts of the other countries which is not fair to the US patients.

[FormerDittoHead]

37. Reading this you'd think the drug companies are just breaking even in a free & competitive market.

Yes, a billion dollars is a lot of money to me.

Not to a drug company.

http://www.aflcio.org/aboutus/thisistheaflcio/publications/magazine/0503_bigfix.cfm#jackupprices

During the past decade, drug firms’ profits represented an 18.5 percent return on revenue or 5.6 times the median return (3.3 percent) of Fortune 500 companies.

Boo hoo the poor drug companies....

[KansasVoter]

39. LOL.....remove the profit ability and you will have NO DRUGS. Sometimes.....

the nutty liberals would love there to be no profit. Thus no incentive for new drugs.

And if it is so easy, start a non-profit company to create and give drugs away. Sounds like an easy task for a smart person like you.

Or maybe the damn AFLCIO can start a drug company, shit, it must be easy!

[customerserviceguy]

45. I agree that the profit motive makes new drugs available

But the pricing scheme is the problem. When you charge drug-buying institutions of foreign countries $X, and Americans $3X, then expect the free market to find a way to exploit that.

There are a few dozen rates being charged for the same seats on every airliner. Would you blame people for trying to use the power of the Internet to find the cheapest of those seats? Whenever there are significant price disparities for the same product, expect smart people to try to figure out how to get the lowest prices.

[KansasVoter]

48. I agree and I said in my post that the USA is wrong......

Most countries set price limits on drugs (part of their help care plans) and the pharma companies meet those limits. In the USA there is none so the Pharma companies gouge us to make up the profit lost in the other countries. I 100% agree the USA needs to set limits also. But no GOP person will allow it.

[customerserviceguy]

50. We had the chance to do this

when we crafted HCR last year. I'd say that a lot of Democratic congresscritters wouldn't allow it, either.

[KansasVoter]

51. So true. It was not all the GOP's fault.

[W_HAMILTON]

60. Tell that to Jonas Salk...

...you know, the last guy that actually cured something? The guy who chose not to patent to polio vaccine for the express purpose of making it affordable so that all could be cured of that horrible disease?

Of course, when there's profit involved, there is no incentive to cure anything, just make medicine that people have to pay $1,800.00/month for the rest of their lives to keep them alive!

And it's a misconception to think that without profit, there would be no incentive for anything. Myself, like most people of this world, make their money from earned WAGES, not the stock market (where profit is king). If you couldn't take your wages and invest them into a savings account or stock market (thereby earning a "profit" on your wages), would you simply not work? I don't work to earn an 8% return on my $1,000 earned, I work to earn my $1,000.

A non-profit company can make every bit as much money as a profitable company, it just would simply funnel that money back into the business, in the form of increased R&D, benefits for its employees, higher salaries, etc. A non-profit company can bring in plenty of money and do a lot of good, it just doesn't do much good in the stock market. That's all.

As for where it would get its capital, it would get it from loans and reinvestment into the company of what would have otherwise been "profits."

[Lydia Leftcoast]

79. "Nutty liberals"?

:eyes:

[Prometheus Bound]

81. You noticed that too!

[BobbyBoring]

107. That's true to a degree

There are many things Big Pharma could do to lower costs. The BIG one would be quit all this fucking advertising suggesting that people need Prozac because they don't feel right. I don't know how much full page ads cost in Newsweek, Time, etc but each issue has at least four 2 or 3 page ads for drugs. One page tells you what the drug does for you, the next 2 or 3 says what it does to you. Then they're followed by an ad from a lawyer suggesting that if you took said drugs, you should sue the shit out of somebody.

If we ever got lawyers out of health care, costs would go way down!

[JBoy]

27. Right on! I'm so glad this worked for you.

:thumbsup: :hi:

[mmonk]

29. Thanks a million JBoy.

It really helped.

:toast: :hi:

[Sheepshank]

30. I went to Mexico for some Rx meds

Manufactured BY THE VERY SAME company as the US meds. These were injectibles. $67 per vial and I needed almost 100 of them. Same dosage same company in Mexico $17. I was able to get them without a prescription there. I got extras for others in my support group. To say it's about the R & D, is ridiculous.

[mmonk]

32. Yep.

Same drugs and same dosage kinda shoots down that argument.

[ejpoeta]

99. they do it because they can get away with it. i mean, it's like holding someone hostage.

give us the money or you'll die.

[BoWanZi]

33. Are there any types of drugs that can't be shipped to the US legally?

My wife is on about 15-17 different scripts a month and 2 of them are for opiates. Could they all be shippped legally to the US for cheaper costs? My health insurance is about to run out and I don't know what to do at this point.

[mmonk]

35. I can only relay the information of our situation.

We did what we did on the advice of the physician that issued the prescription. I would think any drug legal here would be ok. Canada Pharmacy has a US office. Therefore, I presume they could ship their own stock over the border and mail it from a US location.

[Melinda]

41. Opiates can not be sent to the US or transfered across state lines... low cost site here:

My local pharmacies sells a one month supply of one of my prescriptions for $380.00 - $425.00; I can get a 3 month supply of the same medication for $35.00 at this site:

http://www.rxoutreach.org/medications/

Check em out. :)

[customerserviceguy]

46. With the Canadian pharmacies that I've looked into

they won't ship 'controlled' substances. Perhaps some companies will, but I limited myself only to those firms that had been certified by the Canadian government, and would only ship drugs that you had a valid prescription for.

[bvar22]

36. "We ALREADY pay for Universal Health Care."

"We just don't get it." (DK)

The politicians and their bought mouthpieces in both political parties
refuse to let us have what we already pay for.



"There are forces within the Democratic Party who want us to sound like kinder, gentler Republicans. I want us to compete for that great mass of voters that want a party that will stand up for working Americans, family farmers, and people who haven't felt the benefits of the economic upturn."---Paul Wellstone



"By their works, you will know them."

[RKP5637]

58. Often, anymore, party A = party B. It's all about money and donations, and

revolving corp. and political jobs. We the people ain't part of that equation. And politicians come and go, the real wealth and power of this country remains. And presidents are allowed to be elected to appease the masses. Anyway, that's how I see it working.

[Enthusiast]

89. We certainly do.

Downright disgusting.

[Spider Jerusalem]

38. This is something that makes me glad I've moved to the UK.

In Wales one gets free prescriptions on the NHS (the downside to that is that some medications are not approved by NICE, the National Institute for Clinical Excellence, for prescription because the cost/benefit analysis doesn't indicate that there's a significant benefit over prescribing older and less expensive drugs for the same condition).

[customerserviceguy]

40. I get my acid-reflux drug from a Canadian website

that has it shipped from New Zealand, which gets it from a German manufacturer. I have a high-deductable plan, too, and the drug seller who is connected with my plan wants over $400 for a 90 day supply, this Canadian pharmacy only charges me $86.00, and that's for name-brand, which really does work better than the generic for me.

When a foreign country sells things over here much cheaper than they charge for the product in their home country, we call it "dumping". When our pharmaceutical companies and drug chains do that in reverse, we tend to say that the other countries are "doing things right".

[Prometheus Bound]

117. I didn't realise that was so expensive.

Here in Hong Kong, if you go to a public hospital, whatever drugs the doctor prescribes in whatever quantity cost US$12, so I got about a 4 month supply of that drug plus enough painkillers to last me a lifetime for $12. I stopped using the acid-reflux drug after a month and never used the painkillers, so sadly, they'll go to waste.

The medical insurance companies are working hard to get the government to change to the US-style system. Right now a hospital stay with xrays and whatever other tests are required also costs US$12. I guess that'll all be over if the privatization efforts triumph.

[nadinbrzezinski]

42. Side effect

Canadian floppy head... (just kidding)

Americans, for the most part, do not realize the abuse.

[JNelson6563]

47. Because we're #37 baby!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yVgOl3cETb4

[RKP5637]

59. This is great!!! Also reminds me of Bruce Springsteen. n/t

[Whisp]

53. but but you know us Canadians mix up those drugs in a big ole dirty pot

they're not safe! look at how many of us are dropping on the streets from our bad (cheaper) drugs.

:D

very glad you were able to save yourself some dollars.
It's quite perplexing how the American mind has been told to think

[QC]

110. Some filthy Canadian probably peed on them! n/t

[Liberal_in_LA]

56. I hope that $600 gets you more than one month of drugs!

[mmonk]

83. 2 knee injections.

2 of this product= $600.00 from Canada. 2 of this product= $1,800.00 in the U.S. Same product.

[grahamhgreen]

61. The HCR sellout on bulk drug purchasing is one of the things that makes the bill worse than nothing.

[MedicalAdmin]

62. Knee jerk response alert. Also sarcasm tag. Also irony free zone alert.

Commie! Go back home!

[riverbendviewgal]

63. Holy moly.

Glad us Canucks can help....You know we pay a lot of taxes....13 percent sales tax and it depends on the province. I'm in Ontario and paid 21 percent last years income tax for both fed and provincial....

I'm in Florida now.and every Floridian I talk to . Does not have health insurance...they can't afford it.

[lupinella]

94. Yep.

I'm a Floridian & about half the people I know don't... including three friends who've suffered from cancer. One died because she didn't go to the doctor when she could've been treated effectively - the reason she hadn't gone - she couldn't afford it.

[harmonicon]

64. How long are those prescriptions for?

One month? A year?

I'm on one prescription now, but I'm in the UK where it's ridiculously cheap. It's one reason that I don't want to move back to the US.

[mmonk]

85. They are knee injections. They last about 6 months.

[harmonicon]

95. man, that's still a lot of money

Almost all prescriptions here cost £7.20, which could be for a week or a few months, depending on what the doctor prescribes. I don't even know what I'd be paying in the US, but I know that it would be more by multiples. I hope this continues to work out for you with importation.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

65. The health care system in this country is a scam.

There is no reason why Americans should have to pay more for drugs that stay in the US than those that the drug companies export! We pay for research and development through both our taxes and what we're paying for the drug. Know why? The other countries refuse to pay those prices for it! Every other first world country in the western hemisphere has socialized health care and in spite of what they may want to tell you here, it works! And until we stand up and say enough is enough, and these republicans stop believing everything they spoon feed them on Fox News, then we're screwn.
Duckie

[Tuesday Afternoon]

67. K and a big ole R

:kick:

[Shagbark Hickory]

69. Made in china meds. "F" rating from the BBB. Yeah...

thanks canadian scam artists for beating us when we're down.

[mmonk]

90. The particular product we are purchasing is made in Woburn, MA.

The manufacturer is Anika Therapeutics, Inc. It is distributed by Ortho Biotech Products, Inc. of Raritan, NJ.

[Shagbark Hickory]

114. Lemme guess. Because it says that on the bottle.

I don't want to be rude and break the rules but how naive can you be?

Its like you are trying to promote this company. Are you spamming the boards?

[mmonk]

116. Sure. Whatever you say.

The product is an injection for knees. The product information I got is from the product's website. You seem to have no problem spamming your claims. The product is a well known brand here and is prescribed here in the US every day.

This stuff really bothers you, doesn't it? Are you in pharmaceutical sales?

[Shagbark Hickory]

118. Yeah. Wanna buy some? I'll beat china's price. n/t

[mmonk]

121. So all namebrand prescription drugs we have come to know

come from China, correct? Or is my physician (orthopedic surgeon) involved in a plot with Canada's CIPA organization to ship ineffective or dangerous prescriptive drugs from China to his patients?

[Shagbark Hickory]

124. Not too much like your namesake.

Adrian Monk would never take meds from an unreputable vendor.

[WillyT]

73. K & R !!!

:kick:

[Oldtimeralso]

74. I Still Have RX Coverage...

My wife is still working and last year my co-pays were over $800 and the company's share was over $18,000 as per their propaganda. This got me drugs produced in Germany, United Kingdom, and the most common supplier country was India. Very few were produced in the USA.

[Bozita]

91. K&R

[defendandprotect]

92. Big Pharma is criminal and our government could care less ... !!

[DollyM]

93. COLA--what a laugh!

I just lost my job and with it my health insurance. My unemployment compensation will be $600.00 a month and my COLA is $600.00 a month. Yeah right! It's back to being without health insurance. I am so tired of this . . .

[TuxedoKat]

96. Can you PM me

the name of the pharmacy? My husband has monthly meds for asthma and they are not cheap. TIA.

[ejpoeta]

98. glad you could get SOME relief.

you know, I was watching ION life and they have a lot of shows like green house or something where they go in and help people improve their homes. not just energy, because they talk about chemicals in makeup and medicines and everything else. but i digress. they went int with this one family who had done a lot of structural work on their house but then had to stop because one of their kids got really sick. and then the other one got hit by a car. So they took a break. And here's where the story differs from here..... they were going to take it up again because the kids are better and they feel comfortable doing so now. It wasn't a story where now they are so broke they are on the verge of losing their house from the crushing medical debt. They just took a break to take care of their kids and the construction dust would be bad for their health while they were sick. They still had plenty of money to fix up the house.

[JCMach1]

104. You probably wouldn't even want to know what these sell for in the rest of the world...

Pharma screws North America

[mmonk]

108. I know.

[JCMach1]

115. There are a number of meds I bought for my parents over here and bring them when I come back to

the states...

[TBF]

105. K&R nt

[greiner3]

106. Up to a year ago;

My monthly scrips cost would have been >$500/month if bought in the US. Medicare part D would have brought that down to about $3,000/year. However, since I buy all my non-generics from Canada I am spending about $1,500/year. In fact, with the screwed up way the Part D is set up, I no longer use that crappy system. I save an additional $500 a year without the additional 6 months premium I have to pay the insurance companies even though I fall through their freaking torus hole (donut hole).

[mmonk]

109. Addendum

The pharmacies in question can be looked up at CIPA.

From CIPA:

We sell pharmaceuticals and maintenance medications (but not controlled substances) in 90-day quantities to both Canadian and U.S. citizens. Each CIPA pharmacy member is licensed and regulated by the government for safety. Additionally, CIPA was selected by Google to be the official verifying organization for all pharmacies that wish to advertise on Google in Canada (www.google.ca).


CIPA sells prescription drugs made by the leading name-brand manufacturers at prices up to 80 percent less than U.S.



They claim a perfect safety record.


Look up members here:

http://www.cipa.com/


I make no claims myself of the association. I'm just passing this along. This will help and answer the pm's I'm receiving.

[Cleita]

113. Maybe we need to organize a way to get

Canadian pharmaceuticals to needy Americans. I'm sure that buses from border states to Canada for a day's outing could work, but what about the rest of the nation? If retail pharmacies in the USA start feeling the pinch, maybe they will start leaning on Big PhRMA to make drugs cheaper and more competitive with Canadian prices to get business back. Now this is truly free market, not the monopoly market that's practiced here in the USA and called free market.

[Kennah]

119. Here is my approach

I first use pharmacychecker.com to find out who has the cheapest prices for a particular med.
http://www.pharmacychecker.com

Then, I fish around the pharmacy's website to find their physical address, license number, phone number, chief pharmacist's name, etc.

Finally, confirm they are a legit licensed pharmacy using napra.org (National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory Authorities).
http://www.napra.org

If anyone has questions, ask. I'll walk you through it. Wife and I both get our maintenance meds from Canada.

[Kennah]

120. Official info from Customs and Border Protection

http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/travel/clearing/restricted/medication_drugs.xml

It is sternly worded and legalistic.

Because it's online, there's probably a hidden message being sent. The hidden message is manifest in those pieces of information anyone can read and understand.

- 3 month supply or less
- Legit prescription
- Personal use only

Something of an unofficial DADT policy.

[mmonk]

122. Yes, those are the restrictions.

They cannot be controlled substances.
3 month supply at a time maximum.
Prescription by a Doctor to a licensed pharmacist only.

[TuxedoKat]

123. Thank you for this info

going to have my husband check it out as he is on monthly asthma meds which aren't cheap.