Pharmaceutical Problems

We should be making profits on the great medical technology we export around the world. The United States is home to the most cutting edge medical and pharmaceutical research facilities some of which are not too far away from my old home town in Central New Jersey. Johnson and Johnson, Sheering-Plough, Merk, and Glaxo Smith Kline all have research facilities off Route One in the much maligned state of New Jersey. The reason we are not able to export our great new technologies at a profit is due to the socialized nations of Canada and Europe. Since they offer caps on prices for drugs and negotiate as entire nations they can get better prices. Since the price is pushed down by foreign governments the price of drugs in the US goes up. This is therefore a subsidy to develop drugs in the united states that are exported at a net loss to the American citizen. Americans want to see more drugs developed that will help to make people better off. The problem is that other nations love letting us pay for the drugs development and getting the drugs at artificially low prices.
I think there are a few options here. I for one would like to see drugs continue to be developed in the United States however I think it is wrong that Canada and other countries refuse to pay a fair price as dictated by market forces. I say we make it illegal for drug companies to sell drugs at vastly different prices to different countries. Maybe if other countries cannot access our prescription drugs they will finally realize that we have been doing them a favor all along. I realize that profits would decrease briefly thereby temporarily slowing R&D but I think it is important for Europeans to realize that the drugs the average American is paying for is saving their lives or increasing the quality there of. We pay for drug advancements and you shouldn’t be able to get the care and drugs without paying a fair price. Here’s a good site that gives some facts and other suggestions about how to fix this problem. http://www.supplementquality.com/news/skyrocketing_drug_costs.html