Is Canada the answer to skyrocketing drug costs? Stanford forum seeks answers

Stanford University School of Medicine
Thursday, 20 May 2004

Should Americans be encouraged to buy lower cost prescription drugs from Canada? That important question will be explored at a town-hall forum May 24 at 7 p.m. at the Stanford University School of Medicine.

The skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs has prompted some senior citizens to look for alternate sources, including Canada. Some states also have turned to our northern neighbor as a source for prescription medications to help cut the price tag on state-sponsored medical programs. Most notably, the city of Springfield, Mass., made news last summer when it opted to import drugs from Canadian manufacturers to shave $9 million from its budget.

The event will feature three experts in the field: Laurence Baker, MD, professor of health research and policy and an economist; Linda Giudice, MD, professor of obstetrics and gynecology and chair of the Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory committee to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; and Ray Wilson, commissioner of California's Food and Drug branch. Philip Pizzo, Dean of the School of Medicine, will open the program.

The forum will take place in Fairchild Auditorium on the medical school campus. It is free and open to the public. The event was organized by first-year medical students as part of a new School of Medicine course on advocacy. Under the medical school's new curriculum, students are encouraged to be active, involved members of their communities.

For more information, or to contact Stanford University School of Medicine, see their website at: www.med.stanford.edu