An old idea for addressing the problem of high-priced prescription drugs in the United States is resurfacing and could be be considered by the Biden Administration .

Brian Ferguson, is a Professor of Economics at the University of Guelph and author of a MacDonald-Laurier Institute paper on drug re-importation, and the idea to import medicines from Canada at a fraction of the price.
Ferguson says there are a lot of Americans who think this is a good idea, because they would get cheaper Canadian prices, he believes this isn’t true. Ferguson suggests that wholesalers would still look to maximize profits and drug re-importation could potentially disrupt Canadian drug supplies in the long-term.

Ferguson suggests the American system is practically designed to drive the cost of health care and especially drugs through the ceiling. He thinks instead, the U.S needs to actually go back and find out why their drugs are more expensive then other countries. Ferguson says they need to ask why their drug prices are so high, and instead of importing Canadian drugs they should import our government’s legislation and write it as their own.

Ferguson urges Ottawa to not be complacent on the issue that he says could seriously disrupt the Canadian market.

Ferguson says former President Trump proposed new regulations to begin drug re-importation, and Joe Biden showed approval for them. Ferguson believes Biden is in a politically tricky situation with the potential regulations. He says on the one hand, Biden doesn’t want to be seen cancelling a rule that a lot of people believe would cut America drug costs, and on the other hand he doesn’t want to be seen endorsing something that Donald Trump did.