[Congressional Record Volume 146, Number 107 (Wednesday, September 13, 2000)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages E1460-E1461]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


             WHAT'S SO GREAT ABOUT CANADA'S MEDICAL SYSTEM?

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. PHILIP M. CRANE

                              of illinois

                    in the house of representatives

                      Tuesday, September 12, 2000

  Mr. CRANE. Mr. Speaker, Dr. Bill McArthur is a practicing physician, 
research scientist and writer in Vancouver, B.C. In a recent issue of 
the Las Vegas Review-Journal, he criticizes some U.S. politicians for 
promising they can offer Americans much cheaper drugs simply by copying 
the Canadian pharmaceutical system. For one thing, he argues, the 
reason some drugs are 23 percent cheaper in Canada is that individual 
incomes there are 24 percent lower than in the United States, and 
therefore manufacturers there are able to make and sell drugs at a 
lower price.
  The doctor stresses, however, that up to 50 percent of any Canada-
United States price-differential is due to the cost of legal liability 
in the United States. Americans, he says, ``sue more often, win their 
cases more often, and get much larger settlements than Canadians''--and 
those extra costs must be added to the price of United States drugs. In 
addition, he argues, much of the cost-differential is the result of the 
expensive continuous research and development effort in U.S. companies, 
where most of the world's new drugs and new cures are created.
  In contrast to the significant progress of American medical 
technology, Dr. McArthur observes that Canada ranks ``right in there 
with Poland, Mexico, and Turkey near the bottom of the 29 OECD 
countries.'' He concludes that any suggestion by politicians that 
pharmaceuticals are much cheaper in Canada ``is just plain wrong.''
  Mr. Speaker, I submit Dr. McArthur's article, ``What's So Great about 
Canada's Medical System?'' as printed in the Las Vegas Review-Journal 
on September 1, 2000, in the Congressional Record to enable all 
Americans to compare the real status of medical costs and services 
between our two countries.

               [Las Vegas Review-Journal, Sept. 1, 2000]

             What's So Great About Canada's Medical System?


      Patients pay more for drugs; many come to U.S. for treatment

                           (By Bill McArthur)

       Vancouver, B.C.--Some politicians are promising they can 
     deliver cheap drugs for Americans by copying the Canadian 
     system. Beware--the silly season lasts until Nov. 7.
       The claim that pharmaceuticals are hugely cheaper in Canada 
     is just plain wrong. Many drugs are much more expensive in 
     Canada and generic prices are consistently higher. The 
     Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development reports 
     that prices for brand name drugs are overall 23 percent lower 
     in Canada. However, individual incomes of Canadians are 24 
     percent lower and the standard of living is lower.
       That is what happens when an economy is badly managed--
     wages and standard of living decline and manufacturers are 
     able to make and sell drugs and other products at a lower 
     price.
       The politicians promoting Canadian drug pricing should quit 
     loading the buses bound for Canada and consider loading up 
     747's heading to Southeast Asia. Drugs and other products are 
     really cheap there. However, per capita income, standard of 
     living and prices are inseparable and I doubt Americans want 
     a Southeast Asian standard of living.
       Dr. Richard Manning, when at Brigham Young University in 
     1997, demonstrated that up to 50 percent of any Canada-U.S. 
     price differential was due to the cost of legal liability in 
     the United States.
       Americans sue more often, win their cases more often and 
     get much larger settlements than Canadians. These costs have 
     to be added to the price of drugs and artificially jack up 
     the cost to consumers.
       I'll bet the folks clambering on the buses to Canada 
     haven't been told they have very little hope of collecting 
     anything if they suffer serious complications from drugs 
     prescribed and purchased in Canada.
       The bulk of the world's new drugs are developed in the 
     United States. Canada and many other countries do not do 
     their share of pharmaceutical R&D. So if all the really cheap 
     drugs for Americans are bought from Third World countries, 
     who will do the R&D?
       The drug companies will be fine because they will have 
     switched to making largely unregulated veterinary drugs or 
     more likely, nonpharmaceutical products.
       But who is going to do the R&D to develop the cures for 
     diabetes, osteoporosis, coronary artery disease, Alzheimer's, 
     Parkinson's and all the other diseases that affect the 
     elderly?
       No one--that's who! And with those over 65 doubling to 25 
     percent of the population by 2025, what lies ahead for those 
     now under 40, when they reach their golden years--ill health 
     and poverty--that's what.
       I am a practicing physician in the pharmaceutical nirvana 
     lauded by some U.S. politicians. Every day I see my patients 
     suffering in the collapsing health-care system that we have 
     in Canada. In terms of medical technology we rank right in 
     there with Poland, Mexico and Turkey near the bottom of the 
     29 OECD countries.
       Patients wait months for a simple CT scan or an MRI. 
     Recently I had to tell a lady she had cancer and also that 
     she had to wait 10 weeks for the appointment to be assessed 
     for treatment.
       In Ontario in one year, 121 people were permanently removed 
     from the coronary artery bypass graft list because they had 
     waited so long, they were now too ill to withstand the 
     surgery.
       One hundred twenty-one, souls condemned to a slow, 
     unpleasant and very expensive death because of the lack of 
     timely care.

[[Page E1461]]

       Every day I see patients suffering because government 
     regulations prevent me from prescribing frontline drugs, or 
     because our system of price controls and delays in approval 
     mean that they are not available at any cost.
       Just three years ago, I personally needed to drive 
     periodically to Washington state to get medication that was 
     not available in Canada. This is the system that some 
     politicians say they would impose on the United States.
       Provision of pharmaceuticals for the elderly, the poor and 
     the chronically ill is an important objective in all 
     civilized societies, but Canada does not provide an example 
     to emulate.
       Americans deserve something far better than Canada's 
     ramshackle health-care system. Come to think of it, so do 
     Canadians.

     

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