Pharmaceutical Tourism:

More of our neighbours across Juan de Fuca Strait are discovering money they save by buying certain medications in Canada can offset, or even cover, the cost of a Victoria vacation.

It can be a lifesaver for uninsured Americans drowning in their country’s high prescription drug prices.

Up until now, pharmaceutical tourism hasn’t put much of a dent in Canada’s drug supply. And since Americans bring tourists dollars with them, no one in Canada has worried about it.

That’s likely going to change.

On July 31st, the White House announced plans to defy the pharmaceutical lobby and allow Americans to legally import lower-cost drugs from the Great White North.

Are we ready for our medicine cabinet to be raided by a 10x greater population south of our border? Definitely not!

While many prescription drugs are cheaper in Canada than in the United States, it’s worth noting two things:

Ottawa says we pay close to 25 per cent more than the median price that people in other developed countries pay for the same drugs (except in the unregulated U.S.), and Canadians spent $34 billion on prescription meds last year, more than they spent on doctors.

While prices aren’t as high as in America, drugs are unaffordable in Canada too and U.S. tourists flocking in to snap them up will leave us in short supply.

And what happens to prices when there is a short supply?

Mathieu Powell I President
Coastline Marketing Inc.
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