This week I was informed by a large insurance company that I was basically “unacceptable” because I suffer from grand mal seizures. A catastrophic health plan with a high deductible may be an option, but I’d have better luck attempting a career in show business than receiving a prescription card.

According to a 2003 study by the US Census Bureau, approximately 45 million people in the US do not have health insurance coverage. The overwhelming majority of uninsured people are over the age of 65. They are the “unacceptables” such as me who are left to negotiate astronomical prescription drug costs on their own.

My only option is to take the risk and purchase my drugs from Canada. I’m afraid, like many Americans, I have no other choice. My medicine, which has no generic alternative in the US, costs $230 for a one month supply. That same medication costs $165 for over a month and half supply in Canada. Also, because of the patent laws in Canada, I can get a generic equivalent for $107.

The FDA claims “prescription medicines bought outside of the US may be old, poorly manufactured, improperly stored or even counterfeit (fake or tampered with),” but there is more at work in this situation.

In January, GlaxoSmithKline, the manufacturer of my medication, issued an ultimatum to all Canadian pharmacies. Basically the company threatened to hit the pharmacies by cutting off the supply of product if they continued to sell their drugs at discounts to American consumers via the internet. GlaxoSmithKline defends its decision by citing its free prescription and discount programs. Unfortunately for folks like me, who just barely missed the cutoff for free medications, a 40% discount on the high–priced brand drug can’t compare to a discounted generic drug from Canada.

A few senators have gone against the grain to suggest their states strike deals with Canadian pharmacies to provide reasonably–priced prescription drugs to their citizens, legally. On February 27, Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont joined Senator Russell Feingold of Wisconsin to introduce their bill, Preserving Prescription Drug Discounts Act, to support prescription drug benefits for American citizens from Canadian pharmacies and fight GlaxoSmith Kline’s ultimatum. Vermont and Wisconsin have been at the top of the list for FDA mail order confiscations.

Unfortunately, this bill is only placing a bandaid on a much bigger problem: the way drug companies are handled in the US. Citizens of Canada are able to purchase medications at affordable prices because their government places price restrictions on drugs. The price of prescription drugs is not allowed to rise above the rate of inflation. In the US, drug costs have nearly tripled the rate of inflation in the past few years.

Pharmaceutical companies say the cost of research is the reason for such inflated consumer prices. They claim that other price–controlled countries are reaping the benefits of their research and passing the bill on to American consumers. Drug companies are granted a ten–year monopoly on their new drugs in order to recoup expenses.

Senators DeMint and Graham should support the Preserving Prescription Drug Discounts Act. More importantly, they should draft legislation that will put a cap on how much prescription drug companies can charge for their products, and provide government assistance for research so that the consumer can afford the life–saving drugs these companies produce.

The American public, which pays more for medication than another other country, should not suffer because of bogus arguments that government regulation is “socialized medicine.” It’s time to fight the pharmaceutical companies highly– paid congressional lobbyists and allow us to have access to the prescription drugs we need at a price we can actually afford, without leaving the country.

–– Natasha Whitling

Managing Editor