Maybe an End to the 'Free Market for Me, But Not for Thee' Principle?

Real competition in U.S. can lower drug costs

Prescription drug prices in the USA are 67% higher on average than in Canada. No wonder Congress is feeling the heat from consumers to end a ban on importing U.S.-made medicine from other nations. On Tuesday, Health and Human Services Secretary Tommy Thompson predicted lawmakers soon would do just that.

Yet lifting the ban would save consumers only 1% over 10 years, the Congressional Budget Office estimated last week. If the ban were lifted only for Canada, the savings would be negligible, it said. The reason: While Canada can provide deep discounts for the small number of Americans who now buy drugs across the border, it would be overwhelmed by a spike in U.S. demand. Drugmakers already are cutting exports to Canada to curb U.S. discount buying.

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i don't think the estimate of 1% savings over the next 10 years is accurate. if the savings were so paltry, then ordering drugs from abroad wouldn't be so popular. i think this is based on the assumption that big pharma will cut back on exports to other countries to prevent americans from getting a good deal on their meds, which sounds like a load of hot air. they are just posturing. there's no way they are going to piss off a customer as big as the canadian government.