Letter: Drug makers profit at consumers’ expense

Tuesday, May 22, 2007 | 7:57 a.m.

I must respond to Ken Johnson's May 20 letter, in which the spokesman for the trade group Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America staunchly defends the Medicare prescription drug program. Essentially, he is blowing hot air on behalf of the pharmaceutical manufacturers.

I am retired, but not yet eligible for Medicare. Neither is my wife. Six years ago she was diagnosed with breast cancer and underwent an operation and radiation treatment. She was put on a regimen of the prescription drug Tamoxifen for five years. A few months after the operation, my insurance lapsed and we had to take out a new policy.

The new insurance company considered the breast cancer a preexisting condition and refused to pay for any treatments, including the Tamoxifen prescription.

We went to Costco pharmacy, where the Tamoxifen cost $106 for one month's supply. That's a big hit when you don't have any insurance to cover it. We then went to a Canadian pharmacy, where we were able to obtain Tamoxifen (manufactured by a Canadian company) for the total cost of $48 for three months' supply, and that included shipping charges.

Mr. Johnson can talk out of both sides of his mouth, jump up and down, whine, complain or whatever, but $106 per month versus $16 per month cannot be explained away. I have not heard of Canadian citizens dying in droves because of bad pharmaceuticals.

The really stupid thing is that the current Medicare prescription drug program not only doesn't negotiate with pharmaceutical companies for lower drug prices, but the law actually forbids the federal government from doing so.

Nobody can convince me that the prices paid for drugs by Americans are in the slightest bit reasonable, compared to what citizens of other countries pay for the same drugs.

The American pharmaceutical industry continues to overcharge Americans for drugs that sell for significantly less elsewhere, and then it fights tooth and nail to keep Canadian (or other countries') pharmacies from dispensing prescription drugs to Americans.

David Adams, Las Vegas