Debating drug spending

By Alex Singleton | 7 March 2005

I had a letter in Saturday's Washington Times:

Doug Bandow rightly points out that the price of drugs is not the highest factor in the cost of U.S. health care ("The costs of health care" Op-Ed, Wednesday). Nevertheless, drug companies benefit, at the expense of patients, from the lack of free trade in pharmaceuticals. The ban on drug reimportation helps drug companies enjoy the highest profit margins of any U.S. industry, almost four times the Fortune 500 average. Removing the ban on drug reimportation will cut costs for American consumers without harming research and development.

ALEX SINGLETON
President
Globalization Institute
London