Oh wow...I am genuinely sorry, although, I don't buy insulin. Also, guess that

should also stop the Canadians from coming here and tying up appointments

with our Drs because they can't get appointments at home. But, on the other hand, you do try your best

to keep Florida prosperous ......your neighbors sure enjoy it down there in

the winters. And, I do thank you for my Dentist and my Eye Dr.,...both

Canadians, who prefer to go to school and practice here. And, thank you for helping to keep the Malls, Restaurants, etc..going around the Great Lakes area. I wish I

knew how to help them from buying all your insulin, though. As, I said,

I am sorry...hopefully things can change for you soon. (waiting for the flagger

on this one).

Yea, sarcasm never is pleasant. But have at it if it makes you feel better.

UG, that's a lot of misplaced snark. Prescription drug prices are a very real problem and some people are desperate.

I think you owe Jasdip an apology.

I don't think UG's sarcastic remarks are any solution to our very real problem. I think we all know that it is the greedy pharmaceutical companies that are the problem. And they must be holding back on production of insulin so they can control the supply and costs. It's despicable!!

People have been coming to Canada to buy insulin, and over the past 2 years it has been putting supply for us Canadians at risk.

BTW Uptown gal-that quote is from the media-NOT Jasdip.

The genuine concern for insulin supplies here in Canada is real. Diabetes is on the rise here as our population ages. Two of my four sisters has diabetes now and several of DH's siblings have it as well.

The problems in both countries don't cancel any of the other problems out. They are all valid. I'm hoping they are all fixable.

Neighbours do lean on one another and sometimes don't return the favour. It usually turns out but sometimes it doesn't. I feel badly for both countries and wish we all worked for the better of all of our people.

I find Bernie Sanders as scatterbrained and annoying to listen to as our fearless leader. He's not electable, just like the Dem candidate in 2016, and should he become the party's candidate, the result in 2020 will be the same as 2016. His comments are covered in the press but his supporters are a minority of voters, both in his own party and overall.

The numbers of Americans with ready access to Canada to save a few hundred dollars on insulin can't be enough to make a difference on either side of the border. Maybe it's different in other provinces, but here's a recent article about the BC (British Columbia) Health Minister saying that supplies are adequate to accommodate BC and American buyers.

Adequate insulin supplies

Uptown Girl, everything you said about Canadians is tit for tat to what Americans do in Canada. They shop here, they live here and commute daily, they come to our restaurants and casinos, they come to see our Doctors, 19 year olds who frequent the bars, they visit our wineries, they come here to watch annual fireworks because they feel safer on this side of the border. I bet more American's come to Canada to do all those same things that you stated than Canadians who go to the US. I don't know anyone anymore who goes over to shop in the US. There are real concerns about insulin shortage especially now that a US law that has passed or is going to be passed to allow residents of the US to import their drugs. Canadian pharmacies will share their drugs with the US population who desperately need them but they are monitoring the situation and expressing real concerns so that Canadians don't have to worry about not being able to get what they need in their own country.

cherryfizz, your comment is disingenuous and you know it.

A major factor for who goes in which direction to shop and visit regularly is the Can $ to US $ exchange rate. Just a few years back, it was 1 to 1 or close. Today, a Canadian $ is 75 US cents, a US $ is $1.30 Canadian. That's a 25% discount for US shoppers in Canada, a premium for Canadian shoppers in the US. Thats a big change.

If you're in the Windsor area, I'll bet that you and your neighbors have regularly worked and shopped on the US side, much more than in the other direction, during your lifetime. Tell me please if I'm wrong.

I live in Florida. Ever since I can remember and old enough to pay attention, the Canadians have come down here in droves in the Winter. Many of them get medical care here if they have the money. They spend a lot of money here if they are snowbirds so I have no problem whatsoever with them coming. But back when I was an idealist in my 20's and 30's and still believed that Socialism was a good thing, whenever I mentioned to them how wonderful it must be to have their healthcare system, they would give me a very cold glare and then they would proceed to enlighten me about how bad it was.

Elmer, every once in awhile you post something that is very helpful and informative and in the above case on the first paragraph, so right on. Sigh. :|

My comment above, is what Bernie said. He's begging the pharmaceuticals in Canada to work with them.

Our media has stated this

Multiple trips from Americans headed to Canada for cheaper insulin has raised concerns about its supply in Canada, despite insulin tourism being relatively small scale.

Late last month, a group of Type 1 diabetics from Minnesota crossed the border to buy insulin in London, Ont.

A recent letter from 15 groups representing Canadian patients, health professionals, hospitals, and pharmacists urges the federal government to safeguard the Canadian drug supply.

It's strictly greed, as usual on the part of pharmaceutical companies.

Last year hubby needed to buy phosphorous as one of his prescription drugs was depleting it in his system to critical/dangerous levels. There were 2 suppliers of phosphorous, and one stopped making it. So the lone company raised the cost from $11/tube (which lasts 5 days) to $42/tube, just because they can. And that's just a mineral supplement, not a prescription drug.

Of course, we all remember that despicable hedge fund/ pharmaceutical company owner who raised that cancer drug to obscene levels, and is now serving time, for other reasons, I believe.

Elmer, I am not being "disingenuous" as you say. I can honestly say I have not gone over to the US to shop except for 1 time in 30 years, if not longer. I have gone over to visit relatives and have taken a road trip to visit them and I have spent my tourism dollars across the US. Sure the shopping depends on the exchange rate and that does go both ways. To shop in the US right now the exchange rate is not favourable and no one I know goes over to shop but Americans sure do come here. Maybe other people go over but no one that I know of. Have you been downtown Windsor on a weekend? I bet you there are more Americans in the bars and at the Casino than there are Canadians. It also takes a passport to go shopping in the US, not like in the previous years when all you needed was a birth certificate. I have a passport but many people think the price of a passport isn't worth the money to go over to shop when they don't travel. I have a passport so I can visit my American relatives not to go shopping.

And we hear that Drs. Banting and Best, discoverers of insulin, sold the patents for a dollar feeling it necessary as a public service.

If you some of you U.S. folks visit London to buy insulin, perhaps visit Banting's house which has been made into a museum.

ole joyful

cherryfizz, let's put aside your personal choices and habits. Over the decades of your adult life (and ignoring when the exchange rate for Canadian shopping in the US was unfavorable as it is now) have you NOT known many people from your area to work and/or shop in the US?

Ekmer, as I said in my first post it goes both ways. Americans come here, Canadians go there.

You said "I bet more American's come to Canada to do all those same things that you stated than Canadians who go to the US. I don't know anyone anymore who goes over to shop in the US. "

In case you misunderstood my comments, and I don't think you did, I was suggesting that you were reporting something that was solely the effect of an exchange rate swing. Not a shopping trend or a marketing shift.

An exchange rate change that produces a 25 percent discount and/or a 30 percent price increase (depending on what currency you earn your income in) can change the predominant direction shoppers travel. Aside from the topic of medications, it has nothing to do with anything else, unless you can explain otherwise.

The Canadians I know adore their health care system. The husband of a friend of mine died recently from a prolonged cancer--his treatment would have bankrupted her here.

In all honesty, most type II diabetics could get off their medications for diabetes if they just learned what caused the diabetes and started eating right. Type I is a whole different ballgame: they can't just change their diet. But Type II can. But taking pills is the easy way to get "healthy". I know two women who are Type II. One changed her way of eating as soon as she was diagnosed. She barely needs medication because she does like to indulge now and then raising her blood sugars. The other refuses to change. Her health is so out of control I'm surprised she's still alive. I think half the reason she still lives in Canada (she immigrated from the US) is the cheap drug plans and our health care.

"The husband of a friend of mine died recently from a prolonged cancer--his treatment would have bankrupted her here."

I'm sorry about the death of your friend. Was this person not old enough for Medicare? Or he had no medical insurance and if so, why is that?

As Jasdip pointed out, it is a problem. I was prescribed a medication and it was out of stock for nearly a year - it was one that I was supposed to take for a specific time and then go on a maintenance dose. There is a website that Canadians can go on (no doubt people from other countries as well) showing which meds are out of stock and when it is expected that they will be available. Frankly, I was not expecting a year and neither was my doctor.

Insulin is certainly a major issue. There is Level 1 diabetes in my family - fortunately I do not have it.

Supply and demand. A lot of people including the medical profession is up in arms, with the US wanting us to supply them with our cheaper meds.

Not only is the population vastly different......it isn't feasible to supply a much larger company and put our own at risk. How long will it be be before the pharm companies raise their prices as well? They could raise prices and it would/could still be a bargain for the people in the States, and pricing it higher for us. Win for them, but not for us, in the least.

Jasdip, I know insulin and a few others are special circumstances but it's a small percentage of Americans who buy drugs in Canada. Most here have some form of prescription drug benefits and drugs from abroad generally aren't covered. Those without coverage usually have many more economic problems than just drug buying.