important. the USA prescription drug prices are some of the highest in the world. everyone should be able to get medicine if they need it and not feel like they should go without it. i think some laws should be passed to make it illegal to charge over a certain amount to stop the greedy profits that are being made. thank goodness at least in the last couple years you can get some medicines for four dollars like at Walmart, Target, Meijers etc. I am just wondering when this will be stopped by selfish greedy hands reaching for more money for them.I feel bad for anyone who cannot get medicine when they desperately need it. it should be affordable to everyone, not just a lucky handful. considering politicians take bribes from the pharmacueticul companies to keep the prices up we need to do something.

Pharmaceutical companies make billions of dollars a year. Billions!!!!! One of the big problems with health care cost in general is insurance companies. They tell Dr's what they can and cannot do and make treating people difficult. I hate the fact the veterinary business is starting to go down the same road.

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This is incredibly important. The US is a nation of legal druggies (10% of children on ritalin), which is a problem in itself, but when you get people with serious and enduring illness being forced to pay $300 a month of their own money for an illness that they can't help I have to say that the US is one of the most primitive, shameful countries in the world. It's not just the rising cost: it's the fact that people can't get drugs for free. Over here you get exemptions for enduring illness. What a "sickening" country. Will the US do anything about it? No: their fuckbuddies are the drug companies.

Make the drug companies pull their television advertisements until they withdraw their objections to the purchase by Americans of drugs from Canada or elsewhere.

Thanks, America. The geezer vote has won again and we shall be getting our dope rations subsidized as well as getting our social security loot! I pity the poor working stiffs who shall have to pay for all this and then get nothing when it is their turn.

The government needs to stop the socialist deals they've made with 'Big Pharma' and start letting Americans buy what they want.

Government interference is the problem, not the solution.

The Pharmaceutical industry is one of the most corrupt ones,and they make HUGE contributions to politicians.Good Medicines are kept OUT if they can't profit from them,while they cover up evidence and information on BAD drugs they want to continue selling to our extremely un-educated and gullible consumers.

We are such a wealthy country and while I agree that prescription drugs cost too much, I don't think it is as bad as some people would have you think. Think about it, we spend 10 bucks every time we go to the movies. No one complains about that and yet that isn't even something we need to have! When it comes to prescription drugs, the basic rules of supply and demand prove that the prices of this product are in line with the market demand. I say that most of the drugs are worth every penny.

as our population becomes older, this becomes more of a problem. unfortunately there is no simple solution.

Here again the big corporations have us over a barrel. It is why the drug companies denounce the effectiveness of natural medicines in order to keep their revenues from prescriptive drugs. And we let 'em do it.

I want cheap dope.

Eliminate the FDA??? What the hell is wrong with you people. Atleast the Bush administration is attempting to setup a body such as the FDA to list drugs that people are ordering as safe or unsafe.

I totally agree reeny...in fact my Dad asked me today to find a way for him to start ordering his prescriptions from Canada ! He just can't afford them here anymore...it is a complete travesty and I am so sick of Big Pharmacy and their greed...

It's a shame that people have to resort to commuting to another country (Canada), to buy prescription drugs at cheaper prices, when they should be affordable at home.

Eliminate the FDA and costs will go down.

The spiraling costs of prescription drugs is a major issue. A lot of people simply can't afford their medications here and have to go to Canada to get affordable generics. The FDA claims that these drugs aren't safe, but they really are. They're made by the same companies using the same ingredients. In a way this is free market capitalism, why the Bush administration, who proports to be pro-capitalist, wants to stop it is beyond me. Canadians pay almost 80% less than US consumers do for drugs. There's a imbalance here that needs to be rectified. I see some problems with the current system. First off, we must understand that US drug companies are at the forefront of research and development of new medicines to cure all kinds of diseases, there are many incentives that can be utilized to allow these companies to continue in their research which makes the United States the top country in the world when it comes to medical research. The problem however is that there is a lack of competition within the industry. The companies keep prices unnecessarily high because they don't have to compete with generic brands; a small group of companies has a monopoly on the market. Interestingly enough, the pharmaceuticals spend about $2 Billion a year advertising on radio and TV asking consumers to ask their doctors to prescribe one of their medicines. That's a major waste, these costs are always passed on to the consumer as well. Let doctors do the prescribing, not the patient who saw a nice corporate ad on TV asking them to take a certain drug. It's irresponsible if you ask me. The Bush plan did little to solve the prescription drug problem, it's just a massive subsidy to the industry, a political payoff. Such high costs is what would make subsidized medicine such an expensive venture in this country. Major drug companies should compete with generics, that would in turn lower drug prices. This would make medicines more affordable to those who can't otherwise afford it.