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Canada's Drug Price Paradox, 2008

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This study regularly (since 2005) compares Canadian and American retail prices for an identical group of the 100 most commonly prescribed brand-name (mostly patented) drugs and the 100 most commonly prescribed generic drugs in Canada. In 2007, this sample of drugs represented approximately 70% of the entire brand-name market and approximately 55% of the entire generic market.

The results confirm that, in 2007, Canadians continued to pay more than double the prices that Americans pay for identical generic drugs because government policies in Canada distort the market for prescription medicines. Meanwhile, Canadian prices for brand-name drugs remain more than half as expensive on average as American prices for identical drugs and are declining over time relative to prices in the United States.


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