Eighty percent of U.S.
adults favor allowing importation of prescription drugs, according
to Wall Street Journal Online/Harris Interactive Health-Care
Poll…Many feel banning of drug importation is intended to protect
pharmaceutical company profits
ROCHESTER, N.Y., Sept. 15 /PRNewswire/
-- According to a recent Wall Street Journal Online/Harris
Interactive Health-Care Poll, four out of five (80%) U.S. adults
indicate that they favor allowing people to import prescription
drugs from Canada and other countries if they are much less
expensive. A vast majority (84%) of the public strongly or somewhat
agrees that the law banning pharmaceutical imports is intended to
protect drug ompanies' profits, while only thirty-six percent say
this law helps protect Americans from potentially harmful drugs.
These are some of the
results of an online survey of 2,295 U.S. adults conducted
by Harris Interactive(R) between August 23 and 25, 2006 for
The Wall Street Journal Online's Health Industry Edition (http://www.wsj.com/health).
While some pharmaceutical
companies want to make it impossible for Canadian pharmacies to
sell drugs over the Internet, a majority of adults (72%) state that
this policy is very or somewhat unreasonable.
Additionally, 83 percent agree
that it should be legal to import drugs from Canada that are
approved and vetted by Health Canada, Canada's equivalent of the
Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Since last year, Customs has
been confiscating packages mailed to U.S. consumers by Canadian
pharmacies, with 37,154 packages seized as of July 2006. A majority
(77%) agrees that confiscating drugs at the Canadian border
jeopardizes the health of some Americans, and very few (6%) feel
that those who regularly order pharmaceuticals from Canada should be
fined or arrested.
Interestingly, only one out of ten
(11%) adults say they have bought prescription drugs from a pharmacy
in Canada or another foreign country (either by going there, on the
Internet, or by mail) in order to save money, but that percentage
has doubled since 2002. Adults living in the West (16%) are more
likely to indicate that they have bought prescription drugs from a
pharmacy in Canada or another foreign country, as compared those
living in the South (11%), East (8%) or Midwest (8%). Hispanics
(23%) are more likely to say they have purchased prescription drugs
from a pharmacy in another country, as compared to Whites (11%) and
Blacks (2%).
MOST
URGENT HEALTH CARE ISSUE
"Which one of the following do you
think is the most urgent health care issue which needs to be
addressed in the next four years?
|
Issue |
Percentage 2004 |
Percentage 2006 |
|
Reducing the number of people
without health insurance |
39 |
44 |
|
Reducing the cost of
prescription drugs |
39 |
36 |
|
Improving the quality of
medical care |
17 |
13 |
|
Not Sure |
5 |
7 |
FAVOR/OPPOSE ALLOWING
IMPORTATION OF LESS EXPENSIVE DRUGS
"Do you favor or oppose allowing
people to import prescription drugs from Canada and other countries
if they are much less expensive there?"
|
|
2004 Percentage |
2006 Percentage |
|
Favor |
84 |
80 |
|
Oppose |
7 |
7 |
|
Not Sure |
10 |
14 |
EVER BOUGHT DRUGS FROM ANOTHER COUNTRY
"Have you ever bought
prescription drugs from a pharmacy in Canada or another foreign
country -- by going there, on the Internet, or by mail -- to save
money?"
|
Have Bought |
Percentage |
|
November 2002 |
5 |
|
September 2003 |
7 |
|
August 2006 |
11 |
EVER BOUGHT DRUGS FROM ANOTHER
COUNTRY -- BY REGION AND RACE "Have you ever bought prescription
drugs from a pharmacy in Canada or another foreign country -- by
going there, on the Internet, or by mail -- to save money?"
|
By Region |
Yes Percentage |
No Percentage |
|
East |
11 |
89 |
|
Midwest |
8 |
92 |
|
South |
11 |
89 |
|
West |
16 |
84 |
|
By Race, Ethnicity |
|
|
|
White |
11 |
89 |
|
Black |
2 |
98 |
|
Hispanic |
23 |
77 |
PROHIBITING CANADIAN PHARMACIES FROM SELLING DRUGS TO AMERICANS
"Some pharmaceutical companies want to make it impossible for
Canadian pharmacies to sell drugs over the Internet so that
Americans will have to buy all their drugs at higher U.S. prices. Do
you think this policy of pharmaceutical companies ... ?"
|
|
2003 Percentage |
2006 Percentage |
|
Reasonable |
16 |
19 |
|
Very Reasonable |
7 |
8 |
|
Somewhat Reasonable |
8 |
11 |
|
Unreasonable |
77 |
72 |
|
Somewhat Unreasonable |
22 |
20 |
|
Very Unreasonable |
55 |
51 |
|
Not Sure |
7 |
9 |
PERCEPTIONS ABOUT THE
PROHIBITION ON PRESCRIPTION DRUG IMPORTATION
"Since last year Customs has been
systematically confiscating packages mailed to U.S. consumers by
Canadian pharmacies. The number of seized packages had reached
37,154 by July of this year. How do you feel about the following
statements?
|
Statement |
Strongly/Somewhat
Agree |
Strongly Agree |
Somewhat Agree |
Strongly/Somewhat
Disagree |
Somewhat Disagree |
Strongly Disagree |
Not Sure |
|
Those who regularly order
pharmaceuticals from Canada should be fined/arrested. |
6 |
1 |
5 |
88 |
15 |
73 |
6 |
|
The law banning
pharmaceutical imports from Canada and other countries helps
protect Americans from potentially harmful
drugs. |
36 |
9 |
27 |
57 |
26 |
30 |
7 |
|
The law banning
pharmaceutical imports from Canada and other countries
is intended to protect drug companies' profits.
|
84 |
65 |
18 |
9 |
5 |
4 |
8 |
|
Confiscating drugs at
the Canadian border jeopardizes the health of some
Americans. |
77 |
48 |
29 |
15 |
8 |
6 |
8 |
|
It should be legal
to import drugs from Canada that are approved and
vetted by Health Canada, Canada's equivalent of the FDA.
|
83 |
65 |
19 |
9 |
4 |
5 |
7 |