Imports or lack of..

[Gringoboy]

Went to see the Doc today.
The last time I went to see him he was in usual fine form and had given me the receta as per normal. Trouble was that, when i went to the pharmacy, they only had an alternative brand, same med but made in Arg.
After a day the effects were bad, really bad.
So my meeting today was to ask for another receta (returning the Arg pills too) so i could find what I have been taking for six years quite happily. (Rivotril)
He was pretty furious at Moreno et al, particularly with regard to cancer drugs that are held up in customs.
What I take is simply nothing on the radar and can't possibly imagine what the serious cases must be going through.
Has the govt really looked at the human cost of their heavy handed attitude to imports or are they simply blind, because they want to be?
It's all very confusing.

 

[cbphoto]

"The whole problem with the world is that fools and fanatics are always so certain of themselves, and wiser people so full of doubts"
... Bertrand Russell

 

[AlexanderB]

To be fair, medication is one area where the US substantially protects its domestic Big Pharma and foreign players with whom it is in bed. The importation of medicines sold in Europe, which often have much milder side effects and are, in all kinds of respects, gentler on the physiology, is restricted on "safety" grounds (i.e. FDA), governed by "controlled substances" legislation, etc.

My (Russian) family has problems with this all the time, since their bodies aren't set up to handle the violence of American pills.

 

[steveinbsas]

...cancer drugs that are held up in customs.

I think this is the most important sentence (fragment) in this post.

And far more alarming than reports of crime in BA in others.

 

[gpop]

@Gringoboy: it shocked me when I read this, I would have never even considered these type of vital (and often volatile) things being held up in customs and as such play-things for government posturing. Forget the niceties and luxuries like iPhones and such... this is important stuff!!!

This got me thinking though. These are immediate effects, but what about the effects down the line. Small businesses closing down because they cannot find the stuff they need to continue, then bigger businesses, livelihoods disrupted or lost to what end. Who does it really benefit in the end? How many families and people just trying to get by will this ruin?

This is a shortsightedness that really reveals the ineptness (or just plain lunacy) of the current powers that be.

 

[va2ba]

Has the govt really looked at the human cost of their heavy handed attitude to imports

No they have not, and they won't do it anytime soon. It is the same thing with the insurance that they are holding up. People can't get private insurance right now.

The government doesn't care about the people (unless they live in a villa) and they are playing with people's lives.

 

[steveinbsas]

To be fair, medication is one area where the US substantially protects its domestic Big Pharma and foreign players with whom it is in bed. The importation of medicines sold in Europe, which often have much milder side effects and are, in all kinds of respects, gentler on the physiology, is restricted on "safety" grounds (i.e. FDA), governed by "controlled substances" legislation, etc.

My (Russian) family has problems with this all the time, since their bodies aren't set up to handle the violence of American pills.

You were accurate enough to use the term "side effects" in your first paragraph.

What made you use the term violence (which has nothing to do with medications) in the second?

Would you assert that if Pharma in the US is deliberatley harming your Russian family (or even producing drugs without regard for the side effects on Russians?

That could be considered a violent (if not patriotic) act.

Of course calling it patriotic is as absurd as calling it violent.

(reductio ad absurdum)


PS: Illegal drug dealers are (sometimes) violent. Medicines (or even illegal substances) are not.
.

 

[BA_Life]

I understand the Moreno strategy and even though I don't agree with it, I can see what he is trying to do. I want to import new chairs fron the US for my employees. They are more expensive than the local version but they are higher quality and have a 5 year guarantee. But the wait wil be 3 to 6 months and so I might buy the locally made chairs (with only 2 years guarantee).

However...lower quality drugs & medication...that is crazy and dangerous.

Argentina could be a super power if it opened its borders to imports of luxury goods (with a reasonable tax) and then stepped up exports of locally produced items.

Soapbox stored (for now ;-))

 

[AlexanderB]

You were accurate enough to use the term "side effects" in your first paragraph.

What made you use the term violence (which has nothing to do with medications) in the second?

Would you assert that if Pharma in the US is deliberatley harming your Russian family (or even producing drugs without regard for the side effects on Russians?

That could be considered a violent (if not patriotic) act.

Of course calling it patriotic is as absurd as calling it violent.

I'm not sure what you're getting at. No, I don't think anyone's deliberately harming my family. I just think that most Americans don't realise that imports of foreign drugs commonly taken for granted abroad are virtually nonexistent here, and that while the shelves are full, they are full of things approved by - and beneficial for - the American pharmaceutical industry and its government ligaments.

I chose the term "violence" because some of the side effects from American equivalents of common Western European medicines (sold where I come from, in many cases over-the-counter), especially for someone not used to them, really warrant that description. This is especially true for drugs that deal with delicate matters like gastrointestinal problems, intestinal bacteria balances, etc.

 

[steveinbsas]

I'm not sure what you're getting at. No, I don't think anyone's deliberately harming my family. I just think that most Americans don't realise that imports of foreign drugs commonly taken for granted abroad are virtually nonexistent here, and that while the shelves are full, they are full of things approved by - and beneficial for - the American pharmaceutical industry and its government ligaments.

I'm not sure what you are getting at. I've never heard the expression "government ligaments" before.

It might be the second strangest use of "English" I've ever encountered.

Calling US the effects of US (big pharma) produced medicine "violent" was the first.

Do you actually know what a "ligament" is?

For someone who (otherwise) writes in English very well, your choice of words is "surprising" to say the least.