On Sunday, July 28, a ‘Caravan to Canada’ of diabetes patients and advocates traveled from Detroit, MI to Windsor, Ontario to access safe and affordable insulin, announced the Campaign for Personal Prescription Importation (CPPI). Presidential candidate Bernie Sanders (I-VT) – a long-time advocate for accessing medications from Canada – joined them for the trip.
“This Caravan, and similar organized and individual road trips, demonstrate that safe daily health maintenance medications are available in Canada at dramatically lower prices,” said Tracy Cooley, Executive Director of CPPI, in a statement. “Although the Caravan will be going to a brick-and-mortar pharmacy, millions of Americans access their daily medications through licensed, legitimate online pharmacies in Canada.”
Insulin is temperature sensitive and is not sold online by safe Internet pharmacies but can be purchased by individuals at Canadian pharmacies, says CPPI, adding that several anti-diabetes medications can be purchased online as well as hundreds of other daily maintenance medications that Americans purchase from Canadian online pharmacies.
According to a CPPI survey from January, most respondents – 94 percent – cited cost as the main reason they order their medications from licensed, legitimate online pharmacies, which is an increase from last year’s survey in which 79 percent of respondents cited cost as the main reason. In addition, 97 percent of survey respondents would recommend ordering prescription medications from an online pharmacy in Canada to their friends and family members. And nearly half of respondents (48 percent) have been ordering their medications from Canada for more than four years.
“Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar recently recognized that both American and Canadian drug distribution systems are safe,” Cooley said. “Whether from a brick-and-mortar store or a licensed, legitimate online Canadian pharmacy, Americans should have access to life saving medicines through personal importation. “As the cost of prescription drugs in the U.S. continues to skyrocket, personal prescription importation offers Americans an immediate and ongoing option for accessing safe and affordable prescription drugs. In fact, on average, Americans can save up to 80 percent on their prescription medications by buying them in Canada.”
