Posted by baseball55 on August 29, 2017, at 18:14:17
In reply to Re: Sorry - new thread actually-drug prices, posted by linkadge on August 29, 2017, at 9:37:44
The Canadian system is flawed, for sure. But my daughter maintains her residency there, at some inconvenience, so that if she really got sick, she could go back and get good, free care. Friends in Montreal and Toronto have gotten excellent treatment for urgent conditions like cancer, heart disease, infections, fractures, etc. I know that mental health care is awful and drugs not cheap. Finding a therapist is near impossible (same in the UK, by the way).
OTOH, there was a movement several years ago by US seniors to take buses into Canada to fill prescriptions (this was before Medicare - the US public plan for the elderly - added limited drug coverage) because drugs were so much cheaper than in the US. What costs you $45 in Canada might be $200 in the US without insurance.
Studies find that drug companies make most of their profits in the US market where price gouging is completely unregulated. For example, a new treatment for hepatitis C costs $12,000/month for a course of 7 months. The companies don't even try to justify this by claiming high research costs - because other studies find they spend considerably less on research than they do on marketing and their profit rates are 2-3X as high as firms in comparable industries. They just say that it's worth $84,000 to consumers and they will charge what the market will bear.
> I haven't been to the dentist in at least 10 years (sorry for the admission). I also choose medications (and pick them up) based on the cost.
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> I have zero coverage through work - despite more or less working full time on a government payroll (a situation that an increasing number of jobs face). They, like other employers, get around the costs by hiring you as a permanent "temporary".
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> I paid $45 for a month of 10mg nortriptyline in Canada. That was the cheapest product they had (Aventyl - not sure if this was an actual generic or not).
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> The Canadian system is a bit of a farce. Not much good going to the doctor if you have to walk away from the prescription at the pharmacy.
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> Linkadge
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poster:baseball55
thread:1094629
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20161215/msgs/1094738.html