Trump wants to import drugs from Canada. Canadians are furious

[LiberalArkie]

Canadians are in a kerfuffle over the Trump administration’s preliminary plan to allow Americans to import lower-cost prescription medications from Canada.

The plan was announced July 31 and is part of the administration’s long-sought effort to drag down the US’s skyrocketing drug prices. But it’s a long way from being a reality. Even if the plan does pan out, it will likely be years before regulators review, approve, and scale up efforts to import drugs.

Still, Canadians are infuriated by the idea and already brainstorming ways to toss it down the garburator, according to a report by health-news outlet STAT. Many fear that American importation would exacerbate current drug shortages in Canada.

“You are coming as Americans to poach our drug supply, and I don’t have any polite words for that,” Amir Attaran of the University of Ottawa told STAT. Prof. Attaran went on to refer to the plan as “deplorable” and “atrociously unethical.” “Our drugs are not for you, period.”

Snip

https://arstechnica.com/science/2019/08/trump-wants-to-import-drugs-from-canada-canadians-are-furious/

[LiberalArkie]

1. Or we could do the same as the rest of the world and just set a price control on the drug.

[TreasonousBastard]

2. That would make sense, which means Trump would immediately trash the idea.

[Crunchy Frog]

11. That would be soshalisum.

[zooks]

3. Trump idea won;t fly becuase Canada

buys its drugs from US drug manufacturers! There is no way in hell US pharma is going to let Trump re-import its own drugs at a lower price. The only solution for the US is to do what Canada and every other developed country does and that is for the government to regulate drug prices.

[Disaffected]

5. Yes, it won't happen,

and the Canadian government will not support it especially since Canada is on the verge of a national pharmacare program. US citizens looking for affordable drug prices will have to continue travelling to Canada to purchase them (unless that is curtailed too to protect Canadian consumers).

BTW, not all drugs are bought from USA manufacturers - Canada has a robust pharmaceutical industry as well.

[customerserviceguy]

9. I don't know where Canada gets its drugs from

but I use Canadian online pharmacies for some of my drugs, and they never cross over Canadian territory. They're shipped from some island in Asia (often Singapore) and come to me in the US without ever entering Canadian land.

[zooks]

16. Canada buys all its drugs from the US as do other developed nations.

The web-sites you use most likelyaren't located in Canada. The Canadian govt negotiates drug prices.

[customerserviceguy]

18. All I know

is that the Canadian pharmacies I use call me to confirm an order, and so far, all the ones I've dealt with have called me from British Columbia, Canada. The manufacturers of the drugs have included Turkey and India, I can't recall any other places right now.

Perhaps the US drugs imported into Canada are name-brand ones, but the generics seem to be coming from developing nations.

[justgamma]

4. But, but, but

haven't we been told for years how dangerous importing foreign drugs would be? The pukes practically had Canadians dying in the streets because of bad medicine.

[Disaffected]

6. Yeah,

we've managed to survive (for the most part).

[Celerity]

14. 13 Democrats joined a reduced majority of Rethugs to kill importation in January, 2017

Vote Counts:
YEAs 46
NAYs 52
Not Voting 2

If 4 Dems out of the 13 had switched (or Feinstein had voted YEA and 3 Dem NAYS switched, as she and Sessions were the 2 not voting), it would have passed, as 12 Rethugs defected to support it.

https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=115&session=1&vote=00020#position

The 13 Democratic NAYS (2 of them lost in 2018)

Bennet (D-CO) <<<< Running for POTUS
Booker (D-NJ) <<<< Running for POTUS
Cantwell (D-WA)
Carper (D-DE)
Casey (D-PA)
Coons (D-DE)
Donnelly (D-IN) <<<< Lost
Heinrich (D-NM)
Heitkamp (D-ND) <<<< Lost
Menendez (D-NJ)
Murray (D-WA)
Tester (D-MT)
Warner (D-VA)

Not Voting - 2
Feinstein (D-CA)
Sessions (R-AL)


The 12 Rethugs who actually supported it


Boozman (R-AR)
Collins (R-ME)
Cruz (R-TX)
Flake (R-AZ) <<<< Retired
Grassley (R-IA)
Heller (R-NV) <<<< Lost
Kennedy (R-LA)
Lee (R-UT)
McCain (R-AZ) <<<<<< Died
Murkowski (R-AK)
Paul (R-KY)
Thune (R-SD)


Democrats also blocked importation from becoming part of the Affordable Care Act in 2009, with over 30 votes in opposition.

https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=111&session=1&vote=00377


They also voted in large numbers to oppose importation as part of an FDA bill in 2012.

https://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=112&session=2&vote=00108


Also in 2000, it actually passed, but President Clinton refused to do the required certification via HHS, so it lapsed.

Medicine Equity and Drug Safety Act of 2000 (MEDS Act)

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1936287/


Obviously more Rethugs could have switched on the first 3 votes, but they are usually the bad guys, and there were enough of our own Party who took the blocking position that defeated it, even though enough Rethugs had actually supported it for the bills to actually pass if we had just had more Dems support it as well.

[fescuerescue]

7. Whats the deal with Canadian Drug shortages?

This is the first I've heard of that.

Does the Canada government manufacturer drugs exclusively for Canada? Seems like there is alot more to this story.

In any event, it seems that Canadian drug manufacturers can simply say "no".

[real Cannabis calm]

8. A Trump fan in my apartment complex was touting similar rhetoric.

He was criticizing socialized medicine.

[fescuerescue]

10. I'm just reading from the OP

The guy in the article discussing a medicine shortage doesn't sound like a Trump fan.

Maybe it's all BS, I don't know that's why I'm asking.

[real Cannabis calm]

12. I didn't say that the OP writer was a Trump fan...

Anyone can be conned, by online sources, into posting right-wing rhetoric.

[fescuerescue]

13. Neither was I

But my writing wasn't clear. I'm referring to the folks referenced in the article.

The concern expressed (in the article) was that if Trump buys drugs from Canada, then an (apparent) drug shortage in Canada would be made worse.

Honestly the article is a bit suspect to me since it seems to incorporate some right-wing rhetoric lumped with some anti-trump sentiments.

[Hermit-The-Prog]

15. "deplorable", the Prof. said, "deplorable"!

Oh, wait. Referencing the plan, not necessarily the orange bag of animated cat shit.

[GoCubsGo]

17. "...part of the administration's long-sought effort to drag down the US's skyrocketing drug prices."

What the hell are they talking about? These assholes haven't done jack shit to try to bring down drug prices. Allowing Americans to buy their drugs from Canadian outlets isn't helping that either. Prices in the US will still remain high.