This whole debacle is based on fantasy economics. A loophole is supposed to unnoticed. A loophole exploited by millions is no longer a flawed law and will be fixed.

That it's the activities of Upper Left Washington's finest ambulance chasers that helps cause the shutdown is just another example of the "Law of Unintended Consequences" working its magic. You gotta figure that people who're willing to play such games in getting their drugs are the same types who will have a habit of heading straight to a lawyer if not satisfied completely satisfied. B.C. is right to do what it can to keep those parasites (both varieties) south of the border.

Why is it that, in all the news stories about those cheap Canadian drugs, I can't recall any of them explaining exactly why it is that they're so much cheaper in Canada than in the US?

Can you say "price controls" boys and girls?

Roy:

More complicated than that , I think. There are prices and and then there are prices.

Peter, from the link you sent I gleaned this:

"All patented prescription drugs sold in Canada are subject to a set of pricing guidelines established in law and administered by the PMPRB [Patented Medicine Prices Review Board]."

It may very well be that there are other factors that contribute to the lower prices. And perhaps the PMPRB uses a complicated set of formulas to do what they do, but a stinkweed by any other name...

So my question remains, and I'll even expand it a bit: Why don't the news stories, or the US politicians who love to harp on this issue, tell us that one of the big reasons drugs are cheaper in Canada is because the Canadian government forces the prices down?

Peter, from the link you sent I gleaned this:

"All patented prescription drugs sold in Canada are subject to a set of pricing guidelines established in law and administered by the PMPRB [Patented Medicine Prices Review Board]."

It may very well be that there are other factors that contribute to the lower prices. And perhaps the PMPRB uses a complicated set of formulas to do what they do, but a stinkweed by any other name...

So my question remains, and I'll even expand it a bit: Why don't the news stories, or the US politicians who love to harp on this issue, tell us that one of the big reasons drugs are cheaper in Canada is because the Canadian government forces the prices down?

Sorry for the double-post. Had a server hiccup, so I refreshed the page, and it reposted.

Roy:

Yes, but I can't get a handle on what effect that has on how much the manufacturer is paid, and they are the ones that are howling. If Canadian taxpayers subsidize drug prices at the retail level, that may be foolish economics, but I don't think it is an unfriendly act. I do not understand the drug companies to be making any complaints about the Canadian market. Drugs are not generally covered by medicare.

It also appears that the manufacturers charge HMO's and governments a lot less than individuals in the States, so the uninsured senior takes a hit, which leads to all those poignant stories. Is that a form of price support when combined with such strict patents and "quality control" regulations and the oligarchic nature of the business? I don't know, frankly.