Pharmaceutical companies cutting off drugs to Canada?

[Snellius]

I think I overheard this on C-SPAN's Washington Journal this morning that the Wall Street Journal has an article warning that the pharmaceutical companies are threatening to cut off their drug supplies to Canada if the bill currently in Congress passes to allow imports from foreign countries in the U.S. Did anyone else hear this? (I was still in a pre-caffeine stupor) Does anyone have a subscription to WSJ?

[lcordero]

1. I heard it too

"US based"(and I use that term really loosely) pharmaceutical companies are threatening it because the US can get drugs cheaper by reimporting them from Canada.
This would hurt these pharmaceutical companies a hell of a lot more than Canada, Canada could be really quick to vote with their feet.

[amazona]

2. my subscription has lapsed but...

...unfortunately, despite calling themselves "progressive capitalists," the Wall Street Journal is sometimes guilty of what I can only call the outright invention of stories and even facts.

I would not worry too much about this claim unless I saw it repeated elsewhere. It might well be just the WSJ taking an idle threat from some Big Pharma CEO and blowing it all out of proportion.

Last week they floated a rumor that Senator John Breaux was not going to run for re-election. While I dutifully wrote to Breaux's office and encouraged him to keep his office, I suspect that this was another of their "fun fact" articles. I am not always clear on what they hope to achieve by some of their more fictional stories; I wonder if they know themselves.

[Mel]

3. I heard it but

I don't have a copy of WSJ. Pretty dirty of the pharmaceutical companies isn't it?

[Gman]

4. Ok... so the pharmaceutical bill

according to the issue ads I've heard on the radio, is bad because of the horrors that will be unleashed upon the poor unsuspecting public by inferior quality drugs. I think the ads end up saying something about the congressperson in question not having to care about what happens to the poor unsuspecting public.

So now, it appears the bill will likely pass and the pharmaceutical industry is threatening to cut off Canada? But, but but... I thought it was about quality drugs and not pharmaceutical profits!

WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT NOISE???

Oh... just the sound of pharmaceutical stock prices crashing back to where they belong...

[quilp]

5. What will NAFTA have to say about that?

It would be ironic if NAFTA could be used to help workers.