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Press Releases
Ouch! Will You Overpay $10,000 for Vioxx Pain Relief?
NONPROFIT'S "CANADIAN DRUG SAVINGS CALCULATOR"
SHOWS HUGE POTENTIAL SAVINGS FOR U.S. CONSUMERS
Powerful Web-Based Tool from Nonprofit "Results for America" is Most Flexible of its Kind; Consumers Will Find Data Helpful With Medicare Bill Heading to Conference Committee.
NEWTON, MA.—November 25, 2003
As Congress grapples with the question of whether to allow re-importation of pharmaceuticals from Canada, Results for America (RFA) today unveiled a powerful, consumer-friendly "Canadian Drug Savings Calculator" (http://www.ResultsForAmerica.org) that will allow Americans using prescription medications to calculate exactly how much they could save by buying their medications in Canada. RFA is a project of the nonprofit Civil Society Institute, which is not involved in any way in Medicare-related lobbying.
The RFA calculator, also available at http://www.DrugSavingsCalculator.org, allows consumers to gauge savings on nearly 50 of the most popular prescription medications by picking multiple drugs, different dosage settings and time horizons ranging from one month to 20 years. For example, the calculator shows that an American consumer who buys the widely prescribed osteoarthritis pain relief medication Vioxx and takes one pill per today would spend $524.16 a year less at Canadian prices, or a total of $10,483.20 over 20 years. Similarly, a person taking Lipitor, for treatment of high cholesterol, would save $338.52 per year - or $6,770.40 over 20 years. A U.S. victim of acid reflux taking the medication Prevacid on a daily basis would save $640.64 a year or $12,812.80 over 20 years in Canada, according to the calculator.
Civil Society Institute President Pam Solo said: "We are making this calculator available today so that every American medical consumer can better understand their own personal stake in the fight for affordable prescription medication. Nearly every home and every family in America will find this highly customizable cost-savings information to be of direct interest on a personal pocketbook level."
Solo added: "A major part of the focus of Results for America is on supporting affordable health care and prescription drugs. The current debate over Canadian prescription drug sales to Americans is a perfect example of the fact that many of the best solutions do not come from Washington, D.C. Instead, they tend to trickle up from leaders in places like Springfield, Massachusetts and the states of Illinois and Minnesota, where grassroots problem-solvers of both political parties have focused on Canadian drug re-importation as the practical solution that is the best answer to their problem. In so doing, these leaders have forced a national debate on an important question."
The prescription medications encompassed in the RFA "Canadian Drug Savings Calculator" are Accupril, Actosm, Advair Disku, Allegra-D, Alphagan-P, Aricept, Arimidex, Avalide, Avandia,Avapro, Casodex, Celexa, Clarinex, Coumadin, Cozaar, Depakote, Detrol LA, Diovan, Exelon, Flonase, Flovent, Fosamax, Glucophage XR, Hyzaar, Lamictal, Lipitor, Mirapex, Mobic, Nasonex, Neurontin, Paxil, Pravachol, Premarin, Prempro, Prevacid, Prograf, Proscar, Risperdal, Serevent, Singulair, Synthroid, Topamax, Vioxx, Xalatan, Zocor and Zyrtec.
The list of prescriptions and the quoted prices in the Canadian Drug Savings Calculator are drawn from the "Fight for Affordable Drug Prices" Web site (http://www.affordabledrugs.il.gov/price.cfm) of the Office of the Governor of Illinois. Prices reflected in Web site were compiled from the list prices of four different online pharmacy retailers from October 1-7, 2003. Certain price factors that tend to cancel each other out (including inflation and competition-related adjustments in drug prices) are not reflected in the calculator's multi-year results.
ABOUT RESULTS FOR AMERICA
Results for America is a project of the Civil Society Institute, which is based in Newton, Massachusetts. The mission of CSI is to serve as a catalyst for change by creating problem-solving interactions among people, and between communities, government and business, that can help to improve society. Visit Civil Society Institute on the Web at http://www.civilsocietyinstitute.org.
RFA seeks to shape and tap the tremendous amount of community-level knowledge, experience and innovative action that could solve America's problems in four key areas:
Healthy Families, Healthy Economy, Healthy America. Results for America supports affordable health care and prescription drugs. It also supports a commitment to biomedical technologies and breakthrough treatments and cures for life-threatening illnesses that affect millions of us.
- Great Kids, Great Schools, Great Communities. Results for America supports investing in public schools, making sure parents have more of a say in their schools and creating conditions that will lead to learning and success for every child.
- Clean Air, Clean Energy, Bright Future. Results for America supports reducing our debilitating dependence on oil and fossil fuels and making sensible investments in alternative energy sources.
- Rational Foreign Policy, A Safer World. Results for America supports a rational foreign policy that works in concert with global organizations not in opposition to them. It also supports restoring America to its place in the world community as a nation respected and admired rather than mistrusted and feared.
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