Letter: Crack down on greedy U.S. drug companies

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Wednesday, Dec. 5, 2001 | 8:40 a.m.

In Sunday's issue of Parade magazine there was an advertisement that compared the price of prescription drugs in the United States with the same medications from Canada. The difference in the prices was as much as 84 percent lower in Canada, with the average in the range of 65 percent lower.

Many Americans now make the trek to Canada or Mexico to obtain their needed medications because of the price gouging here in the U.S.

There is no logical explanation for this. All of the rhetoric by the pharmaceutical industry laying the blame on research costs, etc., is a bunch of hogwash. The answer is plain and simple, in capital letters: GREED.

The U.S. government should pass a law banning advertisement of prescription drugs, in whatever form. That in itself would be the first step.

Next reduce the time that manufacturers can hold exclusive patent rights on a new medication before generic drugs can be marketed. Lastly, ensure that prescription drugs cannot be sold for a higher price in the United States than they are sold for in any other country in the world.

RAYMOND HARBERT