Canadian pharmacies get their drugs at about 40 percent less than their American counterparts and consequently they do a brisk legal trade in selling pharma south of the border, mostly to old people who would otherwise have to choose between their meds and their rent. However, Canada is being strong-armed by American pharma lobbyists into cutting off the billions it brings in every year through this practice through a clampdown on the sales of drugs across the border. Michael Geist's excellent Toronto Star column this week tells it all:
Instead, the Canadian and U.S. governments, supported by PhRMA, have relied on a series of demonstrably false premises to stir fear among the Canadian and American public.
These include claims that online sales of pharmaceuticals from Canadian Internet pharmacies are dangerous, that they will lead to reduced pharmaceutical research and development, and that the sales could result in product shortages in Canada.
The argument that online pharmaceutical sales are dangerous is directed primarily at U.S. consumers. The claims, found in advertisements and policy papers, intimate that pharmaceuticals coming from Canadian sources may be counterfeit or not subject to the same oversight as products found in the U.S.
