November 12, 2004

WHY DON'T WE SEE WHAT THE WTO HAS TO SAY ABOUT THAT?:

Canada warns on Rx: Neighbor to north may suffer from exporting, official says (John Strahinich, November 11, 2004, Boston Herald)

Canada's chief health official warned Americans yesterday that his nation is not a cut-rate ``drugstore'' for bargain-hunting Americans to exploit.

Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh, in remarks at Harvard University, stopped short of saying he was clamping down on the importation of cheap prescription drugs from Canada to the United States.

But he warned that if traffic gets much higher than its current level - estimated at $600 million a year - he might be forced to take action.

``Canada cannot be the drugstore for the United States,'' Dosanjh told about 100 students and teachers at Harvard's School of Public Health in Boston.

``You are a nation of 280 million people. We are only about 30 million,'' he said. ``It's only common sense.''


It's fun watching our Left force the crash of other countries' socialized medicine.

Posted by Orrin Judd at November 12, 2004 7:07 PM
Comments

Right.

First, drug companies reduce the drug supply to Canada, whose national government mandates maximum prices at which drugs shall sell.

Canadian pharmacies then have to decide whether to sell a limited supply of life-saving drugs to to (a) Canadians,(b) Great Satans, or (c) both. Then the fun begins.

Posted by: John J. Coupal at November 12, 2004 7:22 PM

So the entire issue of drugs in Canada was the result of government regulation which reduced the price not the free market at work, which we were led to believe here in the States. The standard line was that drug companies were simply engaged in price-gouging in America because of those evil baby-eating Republicans. Could the MSM have been trying to mislead us?

And then people are surprised when drugs are rationed?

Posted by: Bart at November 12, 2004 7:30 PM

Give things about 9-12 more months, and Canada will close the border on drugs. And the next step? State attorneys general trying to sue to 'open' the market. What a mess.

Posted by: jim hamlen at November 12, 2004 10:11 PM

jim:

You don't need lawyers--the WTO will do it for you.

Posted by: oj at November 12, 2004 11:36 PM

Canadians are jolly nice people, but why are they importing all these American medications in the first place? Why don't they simply use the puissant output of their own pharmaceutical industry, which can be relied upon to incur the costs and risks of developing new drugs, spurred by the prospect of large profits during their patents' lives? Ignoring the effect of price controls, of course...

Posted by: Axel Kassel at November 13, 2004 6:16 AM

Canada has a pharmaceutical industry?

Posted by: Joe at November 13, 2004 7:59 AM

Labatt's for minor ailments. Molson's for more serious illnesses...

Posted by: John at November 13, 2004 9:07 AM

It's not just the American left. Our Republican governor, Tim Pawlenty, has been pushing legislation to facilitate the importation of drugs from Canada. Political free-rides know no ideology.

Posted by: Robert Duquette at November 13, 2004 3:37 PM

Ours too, but that's just good politics. You can't oppose it now or the seniors wild.

Posted by: oj at November 13, 2004 6:31 PM

Oh, terrific. Canada has price supports for drugs for seniors because we're in a statist hellhole and doomed to fall off the edge of civilization. Your guys are pushing it because it is smart politics.

Posted by: Peter B at November 13, 2004 6:38 PM

John: Crown Royal for Cancer?

Posted by: Robert Schwartz at November 14, 2004 3:12 PM
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