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posted by janrinok on Tuesday May 07 2019, @06:42PM   Printer-friendly
from the caravans-gonna-caravan dept.

Submitted via IRC for AndyTheAbsurd

A "caravan" of Americans living with Type 1 diabetes made its way across the U.S. border into Canada over the weekend in search of affordable medical care in a country where they can get the "exact same" life-saving drugs for a dramatically lower price.

"We're on a #CaravanToCanada because the USA charges astronomical prices for insulin that most people can't afford," tweeted caravan member Quinn Nystrom as she shared updates on the journey.

Nystrom was among a group of Minnesotans who piled into cars on Friday to make the 600-mile journey from the Twin Cities to Fort Frances, Ontario, where she said insulin, the hormone patients with Type 1 Diabetes rely on to regulate their blood glucose levels, can be bought for a tenth of what it costs in the U.S.

The caravan was organized as part of a campaign launched under the banner "#insulinforall" to call on the U.S. government to regulate the cost of life-saving drugs, including insulin, and make medication affordable for anyone who needs it.

[...]

President Donald Trump's administration has vowed to address calls for greater drug pricing regulation. But, Democrats, including Cummings, have criticized the U.S. leader for being all talk and no action on that promise.

"Tweets are not enough," Cummings said in a statement, after Trump lamented high drug costs on Twitter. "We need real action and meaningful reform," Cummings said.

Source: https://www.newsweek.com/caravan-americans-crossing-canadian-border-get-affordable-medical-care-1417582


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  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by edIII on Tuesday May 07 2019, @08:01PM (3 children)

    by edIII (791) on Tuesday May 07 2019, @08:01PM (#840396)

    Nice attempt at trolling dipshit. This has been going on for a long time, and not because it's free. Americans are PAYING for what they get. What you're missing, because your head is firmly shoved up your ass, is that the Canada isn't suffering from the same avarice and corruption as America.

    People go up there because the medicine is actually affordable. Not because they're victims looking for free shit, but because they're discerning consumers that are taking advantage of better markets.

    To be fair, the "caravan" thing triggered you I'm sure into full on Level 5 Hannity/Tucker syndrome evoking nightmarish scenes of dirty immigrants making pristine America "unclean".

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  • (Score: 3, Interesting) by dry on Wednesday May 08 2019, @04:25AM

    by dry (223) on Wednesday May 08 2019, @04:25AM (#840628) Journal

    Actually Canada has some of the highest drug costs in the world. We're just not big enough to negotiate lower prices as each Province does its own negotiating.
    What's sad is that Americans consider our expensive drugs to be cheap.
    https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/canada-medication-costs-cmaj-study-1.4156266 [www.cbc.ca]

  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 08 2019, @08:40AM

    by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday May 08 2019, @08:40AM (#840690)

    Also, American Caravans are heading south to Mexico all the time to buy prescription drugs at even cheaper prices.

    https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2018/oct/30/us-health-insurer-mexico-cheap-drugs [theguardian.com]
    https://khn.org/news/americans-cross-border-into-mexico-to-buy-insulin-at-a-fraction-of-u-s-cost/ [khn.org]

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AerH9ovvJt8 [youtube.com]

  • (Score: 1, Flamebait) by Captival on Thursday May 09 2019, @07:27AM

    by Captival (6866) on Thursday May 09 2019, @07:27AM (#841235)

    By having affordable, reasonably priced drugs that you aren't giving me for free while I illegally enter your country, you have proven yourself to be a horrible racist bigot. What awful fucking scum you are. I bet you voted for Trump a bunch of times, that's what evil Nazi monsters like you do.