Who are complaining are the FDA, which says it is worried that foreign-shipped drugs may be counterfeits, or may be impure, and therefore dangerous to health; U.S. pharmacies, who stand to lose business from the competition; and fussy prosecutors who say the law is the law and people are stepping on it all over.
Who are not complaining are an increasing number of purchasers who feel the relief not only from the drugs they consume, but from the lightened drain on their wallets. Peter Jennings of ABC cited a 64-year-old nun who is taking three medications to treat high cholesterol, gout and thyroid. "I have no health insurance. I only make $15,000 a year, and I can't spend it all on medicines. Last year, I spent $1,068 on three drugs, Lipitor, Allopurinol and Synthroid. This year I'll be spending about $640. The savings are amazing."
Her attitude on the law? "You know what? When the laws are unjust, I really don't care." The FDA's attitude? "A spokesman," Mr. Jennings reports, "says the FDA looks the other way and does not enforce (the laws). 'We don't want to punish seniors,' he said."
Those who believe in the market welcome the maneuvers of the consumer. The consumer, Milton Friedman wrote years ago, is king, and should be king. The producer -- of medicines or bicycles or books -- can charge what he wishes. The consumer can grope for relief, and has found some relief in Canada.
The listless player in the field is the U.S. health insurers. These tell us with some frequency that we must buy generic drugs where they are available, to avoid the higher cost of brand-name drugs. Why aren't they telling us that we should buy drugs in Canada? This would reduce the overhead for the health insurers, as also for the government, which marginally protects the straitened old and ill.