Even if they do not directly pass this on to patients, cheaper generics will benefit patients in terms of their availability. I recently was involved in a case where a flucytosine (an old, generic anti-fungal) was considered for a patient, but the cost of treatment was $7,000 (as an outpatient) and therefore not considered (despite this being the best option). For an interesting analysis of this, see [1].
"Due to generic drug manufacturer monopolization, flucytosine currently costs approximately $2000 per day in the United States, with a 2-week flucytosine treatment course costing approximately $28 000. The daily flucytosine treatment cost in the United Kingdom is approximately $22."
Would it be permitted to travel to the UK (or somewhere closer) and buy the medicine, then bring it back? Or even order online, there's at least one British pharmacy that can deliver abroad.
I was in San Diego some time ago, and went for a walk to Tijuana, Mexico. I noticed a flourishing pharma business there ;-). Not only Viagra but also seemingly normal pharmaceuticals and services like dentists and doctors. They seem to have found a market there...
Getting through the border and back on foot was a bit of a hassle, and it's probably not a good idea to "bring" too much stuff, but it was a fun experience anyway :-)
> I was in San Diego some time ago, and went for a walk to Tijuana, Mexico. I noticed a flourishing pharma business there ;-). Not only Viagra but also seemingly normal pharmaceuticals and services like dentists and doctors. They seem to have found a market there...
And many, if not most, of these medicines are fake. Especially Viagra.
If you get medicine in Mexico, you have to bring your old prescriptions and compare the two. Luck for me, my regular medicine is a cream for my psoriasis that comes in a box that I can take down there and compare the two. If the boxes look too different, I pass on it.
[1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4885648/