Statement of The Canadian Arthritis Patient Alliance on U.S. legislation to import medication from Canadian pharmacies.
The Canadian Arthritis Patient Alliance is a national Canadian patient organization and a member of a large coalition focused on issues around pharmaceutical access. Our newspapers are filled every day with stories of patients struggling to get medicines they are prescribed because we have barely enough drug supply to meet our needs. Shortages of medications across all therapeutic types have been happening more and more frequently, and Canadian patients are endangered by them.
We urge Americans not to raid Canada’s pharmacies to try and buy cheaper medicines. Our mothers, fathers, siblings, and kids will all be further harmed by this. Furthermore many generic drugs are cheaper in America than they are in Canada.
We share your concerns, but endangering the health of a Canadian patient to help an American patient is not the answer to your problems.
Signed, Linda Wilhelm
President, The Canadian Arthritis Patient Alliance
For more information about CAPA, see our website at http://www.arthritispatient.ca/