The Food and Drug Administration has decided to allow Florida to import millions of dollars worth of medications from Canada at far lower prices than in the United States, overriding fierce decades-long objections from the pharmaceutical industry, according to a senior administration official.
The approval is a major policy shift for the United States, and supporters hope it will be a significant step forward in the long and largely unsuccessful effort to reign in drug prices. Individuals in the United States are allowed to buy directly from Canadian pharmacies, but states have long wanted to be able to purchase medicines in bulk for their Medicaid programs, government clinics and prisons from Canadian wholesalers.
Florida has estimated that it could save up to $150 million in its first year of the program, importing medicines that treat H.I.V., AIDS, diabetes, hepatitis C and psychiatric conditions. Other states have applied to the F.D.A. to set up similar programs.
I wonder how this will impact Canada
Canada has a population of 40m. Florida has a population of 23m. In the most extreme case, if Florida sources all their pharmaceuticals through Canada it would almost certainly cause shortages for Canadians. The Canadian system is sized and stocked for current usage, spiking that by 50%+ would definitely cause problems.
As a Canadian, I’d hope my government watches this closely. If Florida’s mass purchases cause issues for Canadians then I’d be perfectly content if those mass exports were banned.
It should be blocked because Florida is trying to solve a political and economic problem they created and they can solve on their own by instead taking advantage of others that did all the work they were supposed to do and still refuse to do.
It’s like having a neighbor with weird conspiracy theories who says they don’t trust the town water system, won’t pay for it and won’t use it, disconnects it from their house … but then asks you to send them a garden hose to their enormous house so that they can have water and never thinks that you now have to pay extra to provide them with water service … and they never acknowledge that they are still using the same tap water!
Youre in luck! This is only for goverment use, which covers people directly in care of the state. Since the US and Florida goverment healthcare doesnt cover the vast majority of its citizens, it will be nowhere near 23mil people.
As a fellow Canadian, I share your concerns. I’m all for helping people out, but there are better ways than allowing a state to cripple Canada’s already struggling health care system.
Big Pharma will raise prices in Canada. It’s gonna be a battle.
That’s not obvious, it could even go in the other direction. The value of a single payer system is that the country or state or w/e can negotiate a price for their whole population, and if they don’t like the price you are offering, switch to some other option. If Canada is now effectively negotiating for both Canada and Florida, it could just have more leverage in the negotiations.
I genuinely hope it works out that way. I also know our government is super corrupt and big Pharma has a lot of power. Love to see it go the way that helps people the most, not the corporations but we shall see.
Prices are negotiated I believe.
The provinces couldn’t come to a consensus on allowing the feds to negotiate for the country, so it’s still done individually.
“Buying from Canada” is a misnomer at best. Florida would instead be making deals with individual provinces.