Y2A
3rd July 2004, 19:25
Now, I was very much for the introduction of Canadian drugs to the American people. Being that it costs drastically less then American drugs. I do agree that many times those that argue against Canadian drugs being sold to Americans are U.S protectionists that only want to protect the American pharmaceutical industry. However, some do make good arguments against the introduction of Canadian drugs. The most logical argument of course is who will do R&D. American pharmaceutical companies spend as much as 40% of there profits on R&D. Millions of dollars are used to discover new medicines by the U.S pharmaceutical industries thus it leads to higher prices for medicine to pay for R&D. Countries like Canada don't have to do this because they can just produce what U.S companies make without having to pay for R&D, thus making it cheaper on the market. But let's assume that we do allow trade without restrictions and let the Canucks opperate in the U.S. They would most likely crush American companies. American companies would be forced to lower prices on drugs to compete against the Canucks, thus cutting drastically on R&D and slowing down progress in the medical field. I am not a protectionist and do believe that the Canucks should opperate in the States. However it is not fair that the U.S pharmaceutical industry should have to pay for R&D while the Canadians just profit off of it. This burden should be shared equally if the Canadians wish to opperate in the U.S.