SPAM: -------------------- Start SpamAssassin results ---------------------- SPAM: This mail is probably spam. The original message has been altered SPAM: so you can recognise or block similar unwanted mail in future. SPAM: See http://spamassassin.org/tag/ for more details. SPAM: SPAM: Content analysis details: (5.9 hits, 5 required) SPAM: Hit! (2.7 points) Subject contains lots of white space SPAM: Hit! (0.2 points) BODY: Contains at least 3 dollar signs in a row SPAM: Hit! (1.0 point) Received via an IP in dynablock.njabl.org SPAM: [RBL check: found 72.1.88.138.dynablock.njabl.org.] SPAM: Hit! (0.4 points) Received via a relay in dnsbl.njabl.org SPAM: [RBL check: found 72.1.88.138.dnsbl.njabl.org.] SPAM: Hit! (0.6 points) DNSBL: sender ip address in in a dialup block SPAM: Hit! (1.0 point) DNSBL: Received via an IP in dynablock.njabl.org SPAM: SPAM: -------------------- End of SpamAssassin results --------------------- [I don't quite follow this argument. It seems to me that drug reimportation, via the Internet or other means, simply takes advantage of a kind of jurisdictional arbitrage. Perhaps prices are unsustainably low in Canada because of government fiat or whatnot, and mass reimportation will eventually make drug companies (on the margin) seek to avoid selling in the Canadian market unless they can raise prices to something closer to the U.S. market. That's probably going to happen -- and that situtation would preserve pharmaceutical profits -- unless more barriers to reimportation are erected. --Declan] -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Press Release: New IPI Study Says Drug Reimportation May Result in Higher, Not Lower Consumer Costs Date: Tue, 14 Sep 2004 11:46:55 -0400 From: Sonia Hoffman <shoffman@private> To: declan@private Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI) Press Release For Immediate Release: Tuesday, September 14, 2004 Contact: Sonia Hoffman, (703) 912-5742 or shoffman@private ******************************************************************** New IPI Study Says Drug Reimportation May Result in Higher, Not Lower Consumer Costs European Comparison: Importation Decreases R&D (Washington, DC): The long-run costs of importation are easily ignored by politicians like Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevic who is granting access to cheaper drugs by expanding Internet purchasing of pharmaceuticals from countries like Canada and Ireland. But this search for a quick bargain could prove expensive, as the Governor isn’t likely to be in office when future data proves importation harmful. According to a new study by the Institute for Policy Innovation (IPI), reimporting drugs is not a guarantee for cheaper prices, and in the long-run, may result in more expensive drugs and medicine shortages. Prescription drug importation “amount[s] not so much to consumer or government savings as to increased profits for pharmacists and producers,” says Jacob Arfwedson, author of “Parallel Trade in Pharmaceuticals.” Further evidence against importation is found in Arfwedson’s comparison of the US and Europe. Share of R&D: As the U.S. has stayed off importation, it has gained the lion’s share of pharmaceutical research and development (R&D). This is quite a contrast to the 1960s when European countries did most of the R&D. European R&D has decreased from 73 percent to 59 percent (1990-1999, percentage of European companies’ global R&D expenditure). Share of World Pharmaceutical Market: The U.S. has also increased its share of the world pharmaceutical market from 31 to 43 percent over the past decade. In contrast, as Europe has allowed more importation, its share in the world pharmaceutical market has declined from 32 to 22 percent. ******************************************************************** For copies of “Parallel Trade in Pharmaceuticals,” visit www.ipi.org or contact Sonia Hoffman at shoffman@private or (703) 912-5742. Press interviews welcomed. # # # _______________________________________________ Politech mailing list Archived at http://www.politechbot.com/ Moderated by Declan McCullagh (http://www.mccullagh.org/)
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