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Importing price-controlled drugs: do consumers win?

Article Excerpt
The debate about the benefits of importing drugs from countries that use price controls might seen less urgent now that the U.S. Congress passed a bill that would bring new Medicare drug benefits for seniors while still restricting reimportation of drugs from other countries. But drug pricing will continue to be important to consumers, government treasuries, and the pharmaceutical industry.

Importing prescription drugs that are less expensive in another country because of government-imposed price controls can be a temporary solution for individual consumers, but could have serious consequences down the road.

Buying price-controlled medicines from abroad may help people in financial need today, and that understandably has been the focus in the public debate. But what are the long-term effects for those patients with serious conditions or diseases who need more research and development of drugs for treatment in the future? For example, cancer is the cause of one out of every four deaths and...

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