NEWS RELEASES
5/20/04 News Release
MEDIA CONTACTS: Ruthann Richter at (650) 725-8047 ()
MEDIA ADVISORY:
IS CANADA THE ANSWER TO SKYROCKETING DRUG COSTS? STANFORD FORUM SEEKS
ANSWERS
STANFORD, Calif. – Should Americans be encouraged to buy lower cost prescription drugs from Canada? That important question will be explored at a town-hall forum May 24 at 7 p.m. at the Stanford University School of Medicine.
The skyrocketing cost of prescription drugs has prompted some senior citizens to look for alternate sources, including Canada. Some states also have turned to our northern neighbor as a source for prescription medications to help cut the price tag on state-sponsored medical programs. Most notably, the city of Springfield, Mass., made news last summer when it opted to import drugs from Canadian manufacturers to shave $9 million from its budget.
The event will feature three experts in the field: Laurence Baker, MD, professor of health research and policy and an economist; Linda Giudice, MD, professor of obstetrics and gynecology and chair of the Reproductive Health Drugs Advisory committee to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; and Ray Wilson, commissioner of California’s Food and Drug branch. Philip Pizzo, Dean of the School of Medicine, will open the program.
The forum will take place in Fairchild Auditorium on the medical school
campus. It is free and open to the public. The event was organized by
first-year medical students as part of a new School of Medicine course
on advocacy. Under the medical school’s new curriculum, students
are encouraged to be active, involved members of their communities.
# # #
 |
|
|
|
|
|
The Stanford University School of Medicine consistently ranks among the nation’s top 10 medical schools, integrating research, medical education, patient care and community service. For more news about the school, please visit http://mednews.stanford.edu. The medical school is part of Stanford Medicine, which includes Stanford Hospital & Clinics and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. For information about all three, please visit http://stanfordmedicine.org/about/news.html.
