October 2017 - Newsletter #2
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Shocking Example of Why Prescription Drugs are Cheaper in Canada and Internationally
Canada's drug price regulator, the Patented Medicines Prices Review Board (PMPRB), has ordered a U.S.-based drug maker to reduce the price of its shockingly expensive drug and pay back the revenues earned from the amount the regulator says the drug maker overpriced by.
As reported by Canada's Globe & Mail newspaper, the maker of the drug Soliris, was charging as much as $500,000 dollars a year in Canada for the treatment of a single patient!
In Canada and most other developed nations, drug makers cannot set any price they want for the drugs over which the government has given them a patent, which is a government granted monopoly that prohibits other companies from copying the drug and selling it during the patent period. Proponents of prescription drug price controls say the rationale behind such controls is that because the drug maker is receiving protection from such competition by the government, the drug maker should not be permitted to gouge its citizens under the pretense of a "free market" price. They argue that if the market for prescription drugs was truly a "free market", the drug maker would face competitors replicating their formulations without any protection from the government in the form of a patent. The United States does not have any form of price controls over their patented medicines which is why Americans pay some of the highest prescription drug prices in the world. (The United States government has also prohibited itself by law from using its massive bulk buying power for prescription drugs purchased under its Medicare program to negotiate lower drug prices from the drug makers.)
Different countries have different methods of determining the maximum amount that drug makers may charge for patented prescription drugs. In Canada, for example, the PMPRB typically uses the median price charged for a particular patented prescription drug in seven other developed nations, being France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the USA. This in turn forms the basis of the wholesale price paid by Canadian pharmacies that purchase the drug from Canadian drugs wholesalers. A dispensing Canadian pharmacy then bills the patient who presents a prescription from their doctor for the medication. At each step in the chain, a mark up to the price is added so there is some profit for each participant in the distribution chain of the medicine.
In the case of this half-a-million-dollar-year drug, Soliris, the Canadian drug price regulator ordered the drug maker to drop the price to the lowest price among the seven comparator nations but oftentimes Canada does not offer the lowest price on prescription drugs. That’s one big reason why NorthWestPharmacy.com sources the world for cost-effective and quality drugs and passes the savings on to you. When Canada’s drugs are the most cost-effective, we typically supply Canadian drugs to fill the patient’s order and when it is more cost-effective to fulfill your order from a pharmacy/fulfillment center based in another country, we will typically do so. Of course, the fulfillment center must be in our select group of vetted and approved suppliers.
Order Now to Avoid Border Delays!
As the holiday season approaches, NorthWestPharmacy.com would like to remind patients to place their orders well in advance to avoid the rush of packages arriving at Customs as parcels may take up to 4 weeks to clear at the border during this time. So if you had planned to fill your prescriptions in November or December, please place your order as soon as possible.
Winner of the Vitamix Blender from Health Perch!
Health Perch recently gave away a free Vitamix blender in a random draw of all its subscribers. Congratulations to the winner: Susan W. from Florida!
Health Perch is a popular health, beauty and fitness digital magazine published on the NorthWestPharmacy.com website. If you have missed out on the giveaway or the exclusive NorthWestPharmacy.com coupon codes sent to Health Perch subscribers, you can still subscribe and get the latest information, coupon codes, promotions and expert tips delivered right to your inbox!
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