An Excellent Counterpoint -- From My Longer Term Anon. Commenter -- Deserves Highlighting, Here On Friday Afternoon, Over Root Beers...

It has been a minute since I've posted comment/reply style here.

But this is an excellent countervailing view, so let's get it up top here:

. . .Anonymous said. . .

Back in the 90s Pharma had a problem with "parallel imports" in Europe of low cost products from countries such as Spain, Italy, and Greece to high cost locations such as Germany.

Pharma knows the expected usage in each country and when low cost countries started to purchase excess amounts to sell in high price countries pharma simply cut them off at the expected amounts so that their own populations suffered from exports.

Several years ago pharma threatened the same thing with Canada if they started shipping too much to the US.

This is never going to work.

January 5, 2024 at 2:57 PM. . . .

[My reply: threedaycondor said. . .]

I do hear you, my long term erstwhile Anon.

Permit me to disagree, politely of course.

The difference now is that the actions of cutting off Canada suppliers will come from US soil, and impact US consumers.

That invokes the well-vetted jurisdictional means (interstate commerce) of the Sherman and Clayton Acts. And, any retaliatory action -- against an importer (from Canada) based on price, here on US soil that impacts US consumers. . . is an unlawful resale price maintenance attempt, and pretty clearly violates US antitrust law (see, in this regard, both the Martin Shkreli FTC action, and the recent class settlement of the (Norfolk, VA, but) federal Zetia anti-trust suit.

It will be litigated, that much is certainly true. [At a minimum, Big Pharma will have to dream up a non-price reason for limiting access in Canada. That'll be a tall order, given this three decades of history -- as you point out.]

But the feds could settle by saying "Look, either you're going to sit down and negotiate fairer US prices, or we are going to break open the patent vault on essential medicines, and make them ourselves".

Or -- "we, the feds" will import from Canada, and pay for all the Canadian legal bills -- and just run out the clock on pharma.

In sum. . . there is not much Big Pharma can do. . . if the feds truly play hard ball.

And that is what this "shot across the bow" implies.

[It also puts FL Gov. DeSantis (GOP) in the position of having to partner up with the feds -- to fight big pharma. Delicious.]

And least to my crinkly, smiling green Irish eyes. . . that's how it looks.

Indeed, Anon., great stuff!

Do stop back!

Namaste. . . .

January 5, 2024 at 3:23 PM

Now: What do YOU think?

Don't be shy!

नमस्ते