Tamoxifin one pill $1.65 in US, $.17 in Canada

[James Love <love@cptech.org>]

>From the ABC story, this data on Tamoxifin:

http://abcnews.go.com/onair/CloserLook/wnt_991007_prescriptions_feature.html
 
Prescription Drugs Are Cheaper in Canada 

  by Bob Woodruff
N O R T H E R N   V E R M O N T,  Oct. 7 - 
When Randy Boardman began taking a
prescription drug to control his
cholesterol, he learned something
interesting about the drug business. 

     If he drove 100 miles up the road into Canada, he could get
a year's supply of Zocor for $600 cheaper than in the United
States. 

      That left him with a question for the drug company. "You
charge us the higher price," says Boardman. "And yet you'll
send it to foreign countries for less money - and why?" 

Government Plays a Role 
Ruthmary Jeffries takes Tamoxifin to prevent a recurrence of
her breast cancer. If she bought it at her local pharmacy in
Vermont it would cost $1.65 a pill; in Canada, the same pill
costs only 17 cents.  "The difference is huge," she says. 
"Like a thousand dollars a year difference." 

     The difference exists because Canada's national
health-care system forces drug companies to discount their
prices. The United States does not, and the results are
astounding: A congressional study found that the 10 most
popular drugs among seniors cost an average of 81 percent
more in Vermont than in Canada.

  [snip]


-- 
James Love / Director, Consumer Project on Technology
http://www.cptech.org / love@cptech.org
P.O. Box 19367, Washington, DC 20036
voice 202.387.8030 / fax 202.234.5176