Meredith G. Morrow In 2004, the state of Maryland joined a growing list of cities and states attempting to import prescription drugs from Canada. Montgomery County says it could save $6 million to $10 million a year by giving its employees the choice of filling their prescriptions through certified Canadian pharmacies. The FDA and the pharmaceutical industry in the United States have resisted these efforts. Where do you stand on the issue and why? Advocates pushing for legalization of importing drugs from Canada and other countries generally cite research which states that brand-name drugs are much cheaper abroad than in the United States (FDA 2004; Tierney and Manns 2008). However, research carried out by the United States Food and Drug Administration overturned this theory in 2004 by releasing new research that showed that this is simply not the case, and I would have to agree with them. I do not believe that the prescription drug war is an issue between the United States or Canada, therefore, the choice of filling your prescriptions through Canadian pharmacies or United States pharmacies is an extremely, oversimplified and insignificant debate. Instead, this is an issue of name-brand versus generic drugs and the ability to continually create generics more quickly and efficiently. The most effective way to decrease drug costs overall is appropriate use of domestic generic drugs. Currently, the United States is winning this battle. Roughly half of all prescriptions in the United States are generic drugs, and these are often cheaper than both Canadian brand-name drugs and Canadian generic drugs (FDA 2004). In a study carried out by Consumer Reports in 2006, the brandname product of the migraine medication sumatriptan (Imitrex by GlaxoSmithKline) was figured to cost $21-$25 per dose in the United States, but could be purchased in Canada for as low as $10-$13 per dose. However, prices for the generic of this drug were lower on average in the United States (Consumer Reports 2006). Generic alternatives are usually manufactured independently and made available after the expiration of the brand-name product's patent (Tierney and Manns 2008). Therefore, to solve the problem of unaffordable brand-name drugs, I suggest two resolutions to lower the price of prescription drugs in the United States: 1) The United States should shorten the patent time of the brand-name drugs, and 2) Increase the number of American manufacturers that produce these brand-name drugs so that it will help decrease the developing costs associated with generating new drugs. Some believe that this would deter pharmaceutical companies and researchers from working on developing new and better drugs since their profits would be less. Ironically, 86% of domestic prescription medications are developed and manufactured outside of the United States (Kesselheim et al. 2008). Therefore, I disagree with this belief since increasing the number of American manufacturers will not only augment worldwide sales, but it would also provide more jobs for the American people...thus stimulating our own economy by raising the profit for pharmaceutical companies. People in foreign countries will eventually begin to buy drugs manufactured in the United States due to the lower price as well. Not only will these consumers be saving money, but they will also be reassured by the fact that the medication they are receiving is a safe and effective drug that was created in a country with the most strict product integrity laws in place. References Cited Consumer Reports. 2006. Best Buy Drugs, Treating headaches: the triptans. Yonkers, NT: Consumers Union. Avail at http://www.crbestbuydrugs.org/PDFs/triptanFINAL.pdf. Accessed 08/15/08. FDA. 2004. Department of Health and Human Services: United States Food and Drug Administration. FDA Consumer Magazine: “Generic drug prices in the U.S. are lower than drug prices in Canada.” JulyAugust 2004 Issue. Kesselheim AS, Choudhry NK. (2008) The International Pharmaceutical Market as a Source of Low-Cost Prescription Drugs for U.S. Patients. Annals of Internal Medicine. 148(8): 614-619. Tierney M, Manns B. 2008. Optimizing the use of prescription drugs in Canada through the Common Drug Review. Canadian Medical Association Journal. 178(4): 432-435.