For patients considering shopping for and purchasing Canada medicine, it is natural to feel a little hesitant about buying discount drugs online. There have been many stories in the news relative to Canadian pharmacies that provide medications without prescriptions. These unlicensed pharmacies cannot guarantee the safety and quality of the medications they sell. Unfortunately, they make it difficult for customers to determine from which Canadian pharmacies online they should get their prescription medications. One of the main concerns most patients have is trying to understand why Canada medicine is so much cheaper. Lack of understanding makes patients feel Canadian prescription prices may be too good to be true.

One of the primary reasons why Canada medicine is so much cheaper is regulation. The Patented Medicine Prices Review Board federally controls the price of patented medicines in Canada. They look at the average price for about seven medications already on the market. New patented medications cannot be more than the average price for the seven comparable medications. This allows prescription medications in Canada to remain roughly 5% below the cost of the international median price for a particular medication. However, federal regulation is only one of the many reasons why prescriptions from Canada are cheap.

In addition to the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board federally regulated prices, provincial governments also have policies in place that affect the price of Canada medicine. Provincial governments provide most of the healthcare services in Canada. This includes providing drugs, usually to seniors and low-income households. Each province has a list of drugs eligible for reimbursement. Drugs outside this formulary are not eligible for reimbursement and therefore have a tough time establishing any kind of a market penetration. Quite simply, this means drugs not on the list do not sell. In order to make the list, medications must conform to the pricing structure set by the province, as they are the largest bulk purchaser of drugs.

Aside from government regulation, Canada medicine is affected by the standard of living and legal liability issues, which are very different in Canada than in America. The standard of living in Canada is estimated to be 20 to 30% lower than the standard of living in the United States. The standard of living affects local market conditions, thereby affecting market tolerance. In short, pharmaceutical companies simply cannot charge the kind of prices they can in the States if they want to be able to sell their medications. Likewise, liability suits are not as common in Canada, therefore insurance for medical professionals is also cheaper.