For quite a while, American consumers have been looking at Canadian online pharmacies as a source of prescription medications. There are several underlying reasons for this popular vector for an average American in need of urgent medications and we will look into these in the following article.
The reality of pricing on prescription medications in America
The debates on how to prevent prices on prescription drugs from increasing to the point where the patients would have to get into significant debt have been prominent in the Congress in recent years. However, the nature of American pharmaceutical business resist any even slight move in this direction. The prices on drugs have been increasing and will be increasing, legally and in accordance with rough real-market laws. Every fourth American simply cannot afford the medications they need to maintain their health.
The manufacturing companies specializing in prescription medications actively promote the safety of local shopping as opposed to the “unpredictable” effects of the medications purchased from neighboring countries (Canada, mostly.) The legislative organs, in their turn, promote regulations that claim import of medications from other countries illegal. Individuals suffering from chronic conditions, for example, asthmatics or those suffering from complications associated with high cholesterol levels, thus remain at the mercy of pharmaceutical companies that can dictate any pricing policy they want- the patients will have to purchase medications, or they will suffer. The American legislation does not enforce limits on the price policy set by pharmaceutical companies.
This can become a significant problem as Americans already spend on prescription medications much more than patients in any other country around the globe. That is the ever-global market nature, the pharma industry notwithstanding. This would not be a revelation to state that brand name prescription medications, featuring “Made in USA” label, in reality are made elsewhere (see under Indian pharmacy, for example) and only then imported to American shores. While the rest of non-imported medications are indeed manufactured in the U.S., around 85 percent of their active ingredients (I.e., the essence of the medication, what makes it work,) are still made elsewhere in the world.
Getting safe & affordable medications from Canada
It is only natural that tens of millions of Americans took to the internet as a source of daily prescription medications. Canadian online pharmacies, situated just across the border and conveniently delivering in a reliable manner, came to be the most popular source of remedies. Canadian pharmacies like Borderhealth.org or Northwestpharmacy.com feature in their catalogs medications, Americans call in legal prescriptions, and then the shops quickly arrange the shipping of the goods to any state within the U.S. According to multiple conducted surveys, almost all Americans who ever used Canadian online pharmacies claimed the delivered prescription medications were safe and legitimate.
Another point is that medications purchased through Canadian online shops are covered under Medicare or can be a subject to health care coverage through the organization the patients are employed by. Only around 10 percent of Americans purchasing prescription medications in Canada happened to be self insured.
How Canadian pharmacies manage to sell legitimate medications so much cheaper?
First, Canadian patent regulations are way less strict than American ones. That makes up a higher competition and at the end, everybody wins. Canadian online stores can legally sell a range of needful medications, while patients can get these legally and at lower prices.
Then, It is easier to sell medications from other countries in Canada. While the United States patenting & licensing is mоre flexible when it comes to the pills made in the USA , the Canadian licensing is more inclusive. The Canadian licensing process makes it quick for obtaining a license for medications incoming from all over the world. That results in a much wider choice of options of treatments of the particular kind in the online pharmacies in Canada.
Mechanisms of pricing also differ in the U.S. and Canada. In Canada, when the starting price range of a class of a particular medication is calculated, they consider medications that are used as the same working treatments, that is, the whole class of them. These classes are obtained and figured out by the evaluations of the teams of researchers focusing on a particular class of a medication. In the United States, it is not the case. It’s not a significant difference in price for the top-brand made treatment and effective no-name generic in Canada.
Is it easy to recognize a safe Canadian online pharmacy?
While the FDA has been warning about illegal pharmacies, it still does not stop Americans from obtaining the medications through online stores. It is easy to weed out legal online shops from illegal ones. Even according to the FDA, legal outlets would require valid prescription, would not supply more than a 90-day bulk at a time, and would feature or require a professional licensed pharmacist to oversee dispensing. It is not difficult to figure out if the online shop you are considering is in compliance with these simple rules. In Canada, the organizations that oversee the online pharmaceutical market also exist and include the Canadian International Pharmacy Association and PharmacyChecker, among others.
Safe prescription medications shopping online is possible
While American Government cannot deal with the prescription drug pricing problem, too many Americans manage to forgo prescriptions they need so badly because they simply cannot afford these at their homeland. The U.S. is clearly in need of safe and affordable daily prescription medications available through licensed Canadian pharmacies. Safe and affordable access to medications is a right for every patient, and they will find a way how to get them regardless of the existing legislative barriers. Perhaps it will be easier if Congress saw the reality of it.
Share
Contributors
