I keep hearing more about about this.

 

YES. No question about it. Since I now have lousey insurance coverage (long story) I have to pick-up my own drug costs. I use an on-line pharmacy out of Canada and save about 1/2.

MR

 

The biggest difference from what I understand is that we have Cheaper Generic prescription drugs as opposed to the name brand drugs.

For instance when they came out & there wasn't a generic drug available the drug *Losec* cost $2.75 a pill.
This being a guess but ,today you could probably get a month supply of the generic counter-part for about $18.75-$20.00 (30 tablets)


The only way to know for sure is to have someone state-side post what drug & the price.
Then I could tell you the counter-part (generic) drug & price.

So Mike, Pick a drug & I'll let you know what that would cost in Canada.

 

The drug Celebrex runs about $70.00 for a bottle of 30 pills here in the states.

 

Online prices from Walgreen's Pharmacy, a big chain drugstore in the US
http://www.walgreens.com/library/fin...fosearch.jhtml

 

I've heard how going to Canada for prescriptions is illegal here in the US. Are the online pharmacies legal? Can I get a drug online from Canada and not get in trouble. I ask because my girlfriend is moving to Cali with me, and will have to get new health insurance. Her current pays her Advair prescription ($160-$165 per month) but not all will pay. In case the new insurance won't pay, or not enough, can we get it online from Canada and not get introuble?

 

I read somewhere that we in the US pay for the drug companies R&D. Well, if we have to pay, then so should the rest of the world.

 

We get one prescription from a Canadian Company. Some are cheaper and some aren't worth the effort. We buy those from the local Drug Store. The company we deal with requires a written prescription, no copies, delivered by snail mail and they double check it by calling the doctor. I would deal with no other company that operated less thoroughly. I would NEVER buy drugs from one that will "write the prescription" ..Drug companies are trying to make foreign purchases illegal but I don't think it will happen. I don't know if it's acceptable to give the name of the company here, (I've already got into trouble this week), but if you want, send me an E-mail or PM. and I'll send it.

 

The rest of the world does not have the FDA to contend with. In the late '60s and early '70s, the amount of research and testing required to get a drug to market would fit comfortably on a standard desk top, 6 inches deep. By the mid '90s the amount of required studies, trials and tests would easily fill 16 tractor trailers. By the time a drug gets to market in the US, it has been in use for years in other countries. This delay also shortens the patent lifespan so drug companies are forced to recoup their research investment and patent depreciation by passing along the costs to the consumer.

Future litigation costs are also built into the pricing structure which is like walking around with a "kick me" sign on your back. Trial lawyers know there is a big pool of money to exploit and like sharks, lurk nearby awaiting a hint of blood in the water.

We, as consumers, are also blame. We refuse to accept a cheaper, tried and true drug if a newer, more promising one is available. Drug companies know this and cleverly manipulate both physicians and the patients in this manner. We not only want the best, by God we demand it or else. Whether the newer agent is any better is only of secondary concern. Its out there and we WANT IT!

 

I just got Celebrex this morning.
I paid $73 Cdn for 40 pills.
I guess that would be roughly $45 USD.

 

40 Celebrex 200mg caps from Walgreen's would be $113.33 - which is why there are literally busloads of people crossing the border to buy at Canadian prices.

 

We've shopped many times for prescription drugs in Canada and in most cases find them cheaper plus at times some are available without a prescription that is required in the USA. Some pain medications that have codeine in them come to mind. Most of the times, the prices are the same in dollars except after the exchange rate it is a real savings. Same applies to many of the groceries we purchase.

 

Depends how much you buy. My mom will go to the US to get my dad some drugs that you need a prescription for. So all in all it all works out. Yes people come to Canada we'll drug you up good. lol. Take some beer home too!

 

So you think those crop dusters are spraying crops? Nope, It's the Canadian government spraying Prozac to keep us happy. mmmm BEEEEERRRRR, eh?

 

I've read where there's about 1000 different chemicals that they choose from to make the current drugs we have on the market now. Drug companies mix and choose between these to make everything on the shelves. They have a pretty good handle on how these drugs work together and with computer modeling it's a snap to whip something up. It's not like the old days when it was done by trial and error, by hand. Then it's just a matter of going though the relatively inexpensive testing process to please the FDA. It might cost millions to please the FDA, but if you make billions off a drug, R&D comes to less than pennies on the dollar.

We are not the only country that has computers and knows chemistry.

When the drug prices went through the roof, the Canadian government basically told the drug companies, "Look, we have 30 million people. Your prices are too high for the common drugs. We have several other countries in Europe and the Orient that make the exact same thing that you do for less money. Cut us a break or we'll go elsewhere."

The drug companies took notice and cut the price to Canada. It's as simple as that. They still make money or they wouldn't do it.

Here in the US we are trying to do the same thing with our seniors. There are about 27 million of them now eligible for the drug card and growing daily, because of the baby boom. The goverment is pushing the new drug card to these folks, so they can force the price down through numbers. I saw on TV the other night there's only about 6 million signed up right now, but they expect a lot more to sign up once the word gets out.

The drug companies might whine about the cost of pushing a drug though the FDA, but without FDA they wouldn't have a monopoly and would have to work under the normal supply and demand rules. It's like any other product. If it cost me 2 cents to make a widget and I can sell it for $100, I will - Unless the market forces me to lower the price.