OT medicine costs killing me

Mardi wrote:

...drug manufactures charge us premium prices for
drugs they sell to other countries for a fraction of the price. If
you buy a prescription drug in Canada, chances are it is the exact
same drug you pay for in the USA. It's just cheaper because the drug
companies sell it to Canada for a lot less than they sell it for in
the USA. Same thing with Mexico.

that is why I don't understand when people are worried about the safey
of the drugs they would get from Canada - I think it is pretty insulting
to the Canadians to think they would have a lower standard than we do
here. of course, if you get the drugs from an iffy internet provider
that is a whole different story, but I am sure a legit canadian pharmacy
has the same or better quality controls than the US FDA!

about them selling the same drugs for much less to other countries, why
would they do it? are they just exploiting the market here? in other
words, are they getting as much as they can here, and also as much as
they can there in order to collect the max amount, even if the price
they can get for the same product elsewhere is less than here?

I know for example that there is almost NO research going on in
biotech/drug companies in the field of malaria, in which I work, because
there is no profitable market for it, they would have to sell the drugs
for pennies to african and other poor countries goverments because the
people that have the disease don't have any money. of course, then they
sent those troops to Liberia and 20% of them got malaria, and there are
a few cases in the US every year, so who knows, it might turn into
another West Nile Virus given the right conditions...
--
Dr. Quilter
Ambassador of Extraordinary Aliens
http://community.webshots.com/user/mvignali
(take the dog out before replying)

On Tue, 30 Mar 2004 06:59:10 +0100, Johanna Gibson
wrote:

(snipped)
there is hope...
I don't understand folks who have to take note of other people's
lives and make comments. I remember once, when I was working in
Safeway in Oregon and I had 11 things in my basket while waiting in
the "10 items or less" queue and wearing my uniform... I was on my 15
minute break. I didn't realize I had 11 things in my basket, but the
woman behind me leaned over, tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Did
you know you have 11 things in your basket?" I just stared at her.
So I moved to another queue... I mean, I was in my uniform. My big
bossy sister says she would have slammed one of the items down and
said, "Well now there's 10, aren't there?" I do have to act this way
sometimes, just because Glasgow is a big city and you get smashed if
you don't know how to cross a street quickly, etc, but it doesn't come
naturally to me and I hate the way I feel. It's like defensive
driving, as opposed to offensive driving (I suppose)......

-- Jo in Scotland

Argh - don't you just hate "basket counters..."? I was in Marks &
Spencers the other day, in the "5 items or less" queue, and as far as
I could count, had only 4 items in my basket - the evening paper, a
bag of 3 chocolate cookies, a low calorie ready meal and a yoghurt...
and blow me if the assistant didn't count the three cookies as 3
individual items which made my total purchases come to 6 items - you
should have heard the woman behind me whinging!!!

BTW, the chocolate cookies from Marks are really nice, but I'm afraid
they don't travel well, any distance over say, about 500 yards and 4
flights of stairs and they just, well, vanish...

Suzie B
--
"From the internet connection under the pier"
Southend, UK
--
Please remove NOSPAM when emailing me!
http://community.webshots.com/user/suziekga

On Mon, 29 Mar 2004 10:01:11 -0800, "Dr. Quilter"
wrote:

(snipped)
that is why I don't understand when people are worried about the safey
of the drugs they would get from Canada - I think it is pretty insulting
to the Canadians to think they would have a lower standard than we do
here. of course, if you get the drugs from an iffy internet provider
that is a whole different story, but I am sure a legit canadian pharmacy
has the same or better quality controls than the US FDA!

Changing the topic here, but still waaay OT... when I try going in for
all these wonderful American-run lotteries that I can enter from here
in the UK (desperate to win money to finance my 5FQ a week habit), why
does it say that if you are a Canadian you will have to take an
IQ-type test if you win???What on earth is the deal here?

Suzie B
--
"From the internet connection under the pier"
Southend, UK
--
Please remove NOSPAM when emailing me!
http://community.webshots.com/user/suziekga

On Sat, 27 Mar 2004 17:45:16 -0800, "Mary in Oregon"
wrote:

Medical insurance was a lifesaver when I had cancer.... each high density
radiation treatment cost $5000......covered 100% by insurance. Often people
don't understand completely unless they have been there. I didn't realize
cancer treatment be it radiation or chemo was so expensive.

--
Mary

I'm reading these posts with growing horror... I will never ever
complain about paying £6.50 for a single prescription ever again...

As much as I would love to spend loads more time in the States, I
cannot imagine living in a country where you have to pay for
absolutely everything down to the last plaster... Here in the UK we
have it far too easy... no wonder fabric is so cheap in the USA 'cos
otherwise no-one could afford to quilt!

Suzie B
--
"From the internet connection under the pier"
Southend, UK
--
Please remove NOSPAM when emailing me!
http://community.webshots.com/user/suziekga

On March 29 2004, you wrote:
Changing the topic here, but still waaay OT... when I try going in for
all these wonderful American-run lotteries that I can enter from here
in the UK (desperate to win money to finance my 5FQ a week habit), why
does it say that if you are a Canadian you will have to take an
IQ-type test if you win???What on earth is the deal here?

Suzie B
--
"From the internet connection under the pier"
Southend, UK
--
Please remove NOSPAM when emailing me!
http://community.webshots.com/user/suziekga
For some reasson, Canadian legislation says that winners of draws and
contests have to answer "skill testing questions". This is somehow
supposed to take it out of the realm of gambling and into the realm of
skill....go figure! :-)

--
- Sonja in Red Deer

Johanna Gibson wrote:

We must be twins. I'm always in my own world as far as knowing
which movies are out, which fashions are cool and new, etc. I think
"oblivious" is the right world. I've worked out how to say, "Could
you repeat that please, I was on my own personal planet" in Russian,
because well, it is a necessary phrase for me. My attention span for
Russian is longer for anything other than sewing though. I mean,
there is hope...
I don't understand folks who have to take note of other people's
lives and make comments. I remember once, when I was working in
Safeway in Oregon and I had 11 things in my basket while waiting in
the "10 items or less" queue and wearing my uniform... I was on my 15
minute break. I didn't realize I had 11 things in my basket, but the
woman behind me leaned over, tapped me on the shoulder and said, "Did
you know you have 11 things in your basket?"


I wonder if the correct response to the person who has counted the items
in one's shopping basket is to say politely that if they have a
complaint about the way the store is run to take it to the manager. It
is quite possible that there could be a store rule that all employees
must use that particular cashier. The customer behind you doesn't know.
Or maybe the answer is a look straight in the eye and "yes."


I have to think that the whole reality tv and confessional tv phenomena
is made for the people who find other people's lives interesting. I
know I don't until a relationship is established. THEN, I care.


I started asking myself what the exceptions were. When DO I pay
attention? What DO I notice? I walked around all day today asking
myself that. The answers are revealing. I can't seem to pull myself
away from the written word. While waiting in line at the post office, I
found myself studying the address on the package that the woman behind
me in line was carrying. Perhaps I was nosy. Did I really need to know
that it was addressed to "Pop Pop Newton" in Arizona? And why on earth
do I remember? I couldn't describe her face or clothes.


I'm aware of sounds too. My hearing is normal, but I'm aware of bells
and honks and birds. Go figure.


--Lia

Many people still think that generic drugs are inferior to "brand names".
They aren't.
Shelly
"teleflora" wrote in message
news:TsL9c.2293$zc1.2030@okepread03...

"Taria" wrote in message
...
Don't hesitate to ask your dr. for meds that are less expensive if
there is an option.

Absolutely! You are most likely to get the drug that was pushed by the
last
salesman in the office. And it sure isn't going to be the cheapest.
Always
ask the cost at the time and if there is an alternative. Either an older
drug or generic. I am constantly amazed that people don't do this.

Cindy

about them selling the same drugs for much less to other countries, why
would they do it? are they just exploiting the market here?

Why WOULD they do that? Why not charge THEM far more when they do their
selling and be able to give the U.S. tax payers a big break on our meds here
in the states? That would make more sense to me. IF that is indeed, what
they are doing.

I do know that the U.S. takes years to turn a drug out to the general
public, where as other countries don't. The U.S. has a tendency to study the
drugs to death, then turn them out on the streets and test them on all of
us. Fen Phen and I forget the others. I believe there was a contraceptive
that was taken off the market as well.
Shelly

No, they're not, but sometimes, the generics have fillers in them that can cause
allergic reactions that the brand names do not. The opposite also can be true. I
have to be really careful with this.
--
Jalynne - Keeper of the Quilt for ME club list
Queen Gypsy (snail mail available upon request)
see what i've been up to at www.100megsfree4.com/jalynne
See what DH is up to at http://www.teamintraining.org/participant/kinney-162652

"Michelle" wrote in message
...
Many people still think that generic drugs are inferior to "brand names".
They aren't.
Shelly
"teleflora" wrote in message
news:TsL9c.2293$zc1.2030@okepread03...

"Taria" wrote in message
...
Don't hesitate to ask your dr. for meds that are less expensive if
there is an option.

Absolutely! You are most likely to get the drug that was pushed by the
last
salesman in the office. And it sure isn't going to be the cheapest.
Always
ask the cost at the time and if there is an alternative. Either an older
drug or generic. I am constantly amazed that people don't do this.

Cindy

Aren't until you end up in ER because the Generic Inhaler is NOT the same as
the Brand Names....and it almost does you in...found it it is the Propellant
that made the difference to the point that I have to have a very particular
brand of the brand name (did that make sense?)
Butterfly (now I have to be extremely careful with Generic--and it was more
than just the inhaler incident that made me aware of the difference)
"Michelle" wrote in message
...
Many people still think that generic drugs are inferior to "brand names".
They aren't.
Shelly
"teleflora" wrote in message
news:TsL9c.2293$zc1.2030@okepread03...

"Taria" wrote in message
...
Don't hesitate to ask your dr. for meds that are less expensive if
there is an option.

Absolutely! You are most likely to get the drug that was pushed by the
last
salesman in the office. And it sure isn't going to be the cheapest.
Always
ask the cost at the time and if there is an alternative. Either an
older
drug or generic. I am constantly amazed that people don't do this.

Cindy