The Canada connection

A story in today’s New York Times by Gardiner Harris profiles a new industry – discount stores that connect Americans with Canadian pharmacies and low-cost prescription drugs. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is taking action against these stores, saying they’re a danger to health because they usually operate without a licensed pharmacist.

The stores, according to the article, are "the latest manifestation of the conflict created by the enormous differences in prescription drug prices around the world. Even as governments in almost every industrialized country mandate steep cuts in drug prices, American consumers are paying among the highest prices in the world, and those prices are increasing annually.”