Pharmacists are getting it too....online

[Neil Hook]

Thought this article was kind of alarming, but until you see what this guy's profession is, it's kind of funny.

Enjoy

http://www.pressofatlanticcity.com/news/atlantic/011403CANADAPHARMJAN14.html

 

[Keith E. Watson]

I think this is pretty much the guts of the article...

'Snyder, a licensed but non-practicing optician, said what he's doing is legal because he only provides customers with forms they need to fax to the Canadian pharmacies. He said some members of Congress have chartered buses to take constituents across the border to buy cheaper prescription medicines.

"We're an information source," Snyder said. "We're not stocking anything or having anything shipped here. We're just providing information."'

This part is also interesting...

'Importing drugs by mail is illegal, but so far federal regulators have turned a blind eye to the practice. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, which oversees the pharmaceutical industry, said its enforcement resources are focused on large commercial drug shipments and not mail-order imports by individuals.'

Interesting choice of words: "blind eye." And that very last part is interesting too: 'focused ... not [on] mail-order imports by individuals.' They don't care about mail-order in this country either.

 

[Robert Greenberg]

I don't know why an optician, licensed or not, would be supplying Rx's for Canada. That must have been a typo. As for pharmacists, I can only say that for me being able to buy drugs from Canada has been beneficial. Fortunately, I do not need any meds but my wife is a cancer patient and does. I can get the same legend drugs from Canada that I get in this country at a savings of 50-70%. And the Canadian pharmacies will not ship without a valid Rx from a U.S. physician. Some of these drugs, by the way, are made in Canada.
The pharmaceutical companies spend millions of dollars on TV commercials and print media ads trying to convince people to use drugs that only a physician can prescribe, thereby encouraging patients to tell their doctors how to practice! They should stop that stupid advertising and reduce the cost of their meds.

 

[Keith E. Watson]

Originally posted by Robert Greenberg
The pharmaceutical companies spend millions of dollars on TV commercials and print media ads trying to convince people to use drugs that only a physician can prescribe, thereby encouraging patients to tell their doctors how to practice! They should stop that stupid advertising and reduce the cost of their meds.

It would be nice to reduce the cost of medications. I agree with this.

However, I'm all for patients dictating their own care as long as it is applicable to their condition. Sometimes, patients are smarter than we are. I have no problem with patients choosing a drug as long as it is a choice between several equivalent ones.

I'm sure the drug companies have it figured out and what they are doing is smart advertising. However, when I see some of these commercials with happy people running through fields of flowers, I'm shocked to find out later what the drug is for. Does the general public really have any idea what some of these drugs are unless they have been told before, heard it from a neighbor, or recognized the name AFTER the doctor prescribed it to them? I find it hard to believe that a person would go running to their doctor saying, "Doctor, I want X!" Only to find out it doesn't help with hair loss (actually bladder control).