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Should Americans be allowed to import and purchase safe and affordable prescription drugs from other nations?
Results so far:
| Yes | 81% | 722 votes | Total: 892 votes | |
| No | 19% | 170 votes |
Yes
by Anthony Megna
Created on: January 31, 2009 Last Updated: February 10, 2010
It is our right as Americans to purchase safe and affordable prescription drugs from other nations! It's called the free market. As long as there are some safety measures in place, why not? But that is where the problem is, how to regulate what you are buying over the Internet. I say Internet because that is probably where a majority of the drugs would be purchased. But how to regulate it? How can we make sure we are getting safe and reliable medicines?
Thinking about this dilemma perhaps some sort of clearinghouse on the American side of the equation might be the answer. For example: One would purchase the product over the Internet from Sweden for instance. The Swedish company then sends the product to the clearinghouse in America to be inspected. If all is well, the clearinghouse then sends the product to the purchaser, which is you. It just might work. Of course, not all drugs would be purchased this way, but buyer beware if it doesn't go through the clearinghouse. Another words, the clearinghouse is staffed with professionals that inspect drugs for a living. This adds a measure of safety to the product. Sure, it might be cheaper to just buy direct from the international manufacturer, but you take your chances.
Americans are supposed to live in a free country. We don't have one hundred percent protectionism, where we only have to buy American. Most Americans would like to buy from this country, but until we get up to speed, we are going to buy where the quality is. Take a look at cars for example. Although the American car industry has made great strides in recent years, the Japanese still command the lion's share of the market. They just make better product, plain and simple. Money is tight today, and when that money is spent it is going to go where the quality is. It is the same way with medicine. The American consumer is sick and tired of getting raped by the health industry. From doctor care to pharmaceuticals, how much can we take. There is only so much money to go around, and the insurance companies have absconded with most of it. I say freedom of choice!
If buying our prescriptions over the Internet from another country is what it takes to make sure we are not getting ripped off on price, then that is what most people will do. The markup on drugs in this country is phenomenal, thousands of percent in some cases. Why do these companies have to be so damn greedy? Look what happened on wall street, and that is what is going to happen with some of these drug manufacturers if they don't watch out. You might be able to fool Americans once, but watch out the second time. Be aware we don't want to wake the sleeping giant.....
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No
by groundhog91
Created on: June 16, 2008
There are some things about residing in America that over-rides the extenuating circumstances that are going on in the other parts of this globe. We know that malaria and aids are epidemics in some really hurting places, and any relief is welcome, but not here. In the US we have established Governing institutions that have been given the responsibility to oversee, not only the quality and safety of the products extended to Americans' consumption, but also have checks and balances set up to check and see as to where all this money is going. If we weren't in such perilous times, where the money goes would not be such a big factor, when it came down to "who gets the guns and who don't". The question was if we as Americans should be allowed to send our money elsewhere, and by-pass the regulations that have always proven themselves to be adequate, and support some shady deal, waiting in the shadows of who knows where, to be able to save a few bucks? Well let's look at it
The idea of saving money is the very reason for this question, and this idea has always driven Americans to free enterprise, when it came to tearing down the monopoly concept of anything, for the very reason of bringing competitive prices across the board, thus keeping prices under control. Americans should always be allowed to buy their medications from any pharmacy or drug store that is made available to them here in this country, not only for their safety but for our nations' safety as well. If you let me elaborate, let me bring a scenario to mind in order to present my point. Let's suppose I was a combatant of some extremist group and I wanted to destroy the US; I would have to consider my options carefully. An opposing Army hasn't worked, cyber espionage failed, and secret missions are constantly being exposed, but one thing is for sure, there is someway to do it, and this is what they are trying now. If we can get the Americans to open the locked doors, and drop these impenetrable bridges, and just get them to start doing business with us, we can assuredly bring them to their knees. The way I can do this is to make the Americans believe that they are being robbed by this fat rat beurocrat system, and they are being way over priced for the same products that we are practically giving away as far as their standards go. In this light the question has now evolved to "should Americans be allowed to unlock the locked and open the closed for personal gain?"
The most sincseable answer would be no, but I'm sure that there are Americans that just see this as a paranoid approach basing everything on fears. I can only respond and say that these things would have never been put up with such care and persistence, if there were nothing to fear. This is the day in age when Americans are going to have to close their ears to all these outside influences, and just get back to the American grass roots of doing things. We have not only proved it to ourselves, but apparently to the rest of the world that our pharmaceutical institution, is an institution that if attacked, will be a great blow to the well being of our great Country. We as
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