A new revolution in Massachusetts
I know I don't need to restate this, but I will for the
record: I think most prescription drugs are needless, and
most are downright detrimental to your health. That having
been said, I also know that most doctors deal out
prescriptions like they're Halloween candy, and that most
patients do what their doctors tell them to - which means
somehow getting those prescriptions filled without going
bankrupt. So consider:
Fact #1: The pharmaceutical industry is this country's most
profitable business.
Fact #2: Americans pay more for prescription drugs than
citizens of any other country.
Fact #3: More than a million Americans save money by buying
their prescription drugs in Canada. And technically, this
makes every one of these people a criminal.
Almost exactly one year ago (Daily Dose, 5/13/2003), I wrote
to you about the conflict brewing with regard to American
citizens buying prescription drugs for far less money "over
the border" in Canada. Currently, this practice is illegal.
WHY it's against the law is a mystery to me - and to
millions of others. Citizens of the U.S. are free to buy
just about anything else across the borders of our
neighboring countries (including alcohol), so why not
prescription drugs? Don't we live in a "free market" society?
According to the FDA, it's about safety - they maintain that
they'd be unable to ensure the quality of drugs purchased
outside the U.S. But that's a load of bunk, because the vast
majority of the pills Americans pop every day are made in
factories FAR OUTSIDE our borders (Pfizer alone has
manufacturing facilities in 32 different countries), then
shipped in to be marked up a zillion times and sold to us,
who have no other options. So I ask: If the drug you need
(or that a doctor has TOLD you that you need) is made in
Bangladesh, how is it any SAFER to buy it for $100 in the
U.S. than for 50 bucks in Canada?
I'll tell you what the difference is: A 50% greater profit
for the drug's manufacturer!
So why is the Food and Drug Administration playing "hired
gun" for the drug business? Because the FDA is a government
agency - it cannot exist if the state can't support it.
That's why it needs to ensure drug makers' profits by road-
blocking cheaper foreign drug sales. As long as we're all
forced to buy our drugs for inflated prices here in the U.S,
the government will continue to rake in money from the huge
corporate and sales taxes they levy on the drug industry.
It's nothing but legalized racketeering!
But according to a recent CBS News report, there's a
grassroots revolution here in the U.S. to fight this one-
sided tyranny of profit: The Mayor of Springfield,
Massachusetts struck a deal while in office (he's since been
ousted) with a large Canadian pharmacy to provide his city's
employees with reasonably priced prescription drugs - to the
tune of a projected savings of up to $9 million a year for
that municipality!
Yes, this policy violates U.S. law, but it represents the
first volley in what's sure to be the next major war in the
medical world. How the FDA responds to this heroic defiance
of its unjust policy will surely set the tone for this
brewing conflict. But if it's anything near as over-the-top
as what I'm about to tell you, the future looks pretty
bleak. Keep reading...
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Papers, please!
Imagine you're on a bus trip one fine spring day - just one
more in a long succession of similar sojourns you've taken
since June of 2000 as a member of the Minnesota Seniors
Federation. The purpose? To buy your much-needed
prescription drugs over the border in Canada, the only place
you can afford them anymore...
Suddenly, while on the return trip from Winnipeg, the bus is
pulled to a stop by FDA officials. They stomp onto the bus
like jack-booted stormtroopers, inspecting every package,
every bag - including the six-month stock of prescription
medications you've just purchased (even though most of them
are probably needless). You're left shaken and feeling like
a criminal, which the FDA thugs just informed you that you
actually ARE, and you wonder out loud:
"We've been taking these trips for years - why are they
stopping us now?"
This isn't fiction. It actually happened not long ago to a
busload of senior citizens aboard the "RX Express," a
regular bus trip to a Canadian pharmacy subsidized entirely
by Minnesota state senator, Mark Dayton, using his Senate
salary.
Another of the upcoming drug war's patriots, Dayton (a rare
free-market Democrat) is forcing the issue of cross-border
competition in drug sales to the forefront. And after his
letter of indignation to the FDA about this terrorization of
his constituents, the agency issued a formal apology through
a spokesperson, who called it "unfortunate" and "not
consistent with current policy," according to news
outlets.
But this doesn't sound too sincere to me. I think the
FDA's "apology" is nothing more than a propaganda ploy to
more widely publicize the incident - and make senior
citizens think twice about buying their drugs in Canada, for
fear of harassment. Time will tell, though, and I'll be
watching the newswire closely for more on the REAL drug war
we're all facing.
Stay tuned.
Always inspecting the inspectors,
William Campbell Douglass II, MD
