How a malignant narcissist handles America's med supply
Pharmaceuticals will no longer be exempt from the
Trump administration's 25% tariff on goods produced in Canada.
Writing in a research letter, scientists at the University of Toronto and their colleagues at Hertie School in Berlin and at the University of Pittsburgh, say the United States imports 400 different ready-for-use medications from Canada, 28 of which have no alternative supplier.
Though not the largest source of medical drugs in the
United States, Canada represents a significant player in the drug
landscape.
Straining this supply chain could trigger drug shortages
and jeopardize patient care.
"The proposed tariffs could affect a wide range of
medications, from antibiotics to mental health treatments," said Mina
Tadrous, PharmD, PhD, lead author and assistant professor of pharmacy at the
University of Toronto, in a university press release. "Straining this
supply chain could trigger drug shortages and jeopardize patient care. We know
that drugs with only one manufacturer and rapidly shifting supply chains
increase the risk of shortages."
Potential $750 million cost increase
In a comprehensive analysis of US pharmaceutical sales in
2022 and 2023 based on the National Institutes of Health's DailyMed package
inserts database, the authors found that 22,082 drug products were sold in the
US market from the fourth quarter of 2022 to the third quarter of 2023, of
which 411 (1.9%) were manufactured in Canada, representing $3 billion in sales.
Of the 411 Canadian drug products, 79% (323) were generic,
and 21% (88) were brand-name products, including 20 (4.9%) under patent
protection. Also, drugs with final production in Canada result in a subset of
the pharmaceuticals, which would be subject to tariffs.
"We estimate that $3 billion in US pharmaceuticals
depend on Canadian manufacturing, with 25% tariffs adding $750 million in
cost," the authors wrote. "Extending tariffs to larger suppliers (eg,
China, India, Europe) could worsen the predicted effects, providing rationale
for pharmaceuticals being exempt from tariffs to avoid increasing health care
costs and worsening disruptions in US supply."
Tadrous said the authors recommend that pharmaceuticals
should be exempt from tariffs to prevent higher healthcare costs and worsening
supply chain disruptions.
"Our work highlights that perhaps the U.S. should
consider removing medications from its list of imports, in line with previous
tariffs, to avoid disruptions to supply chains and potential shortages that may
affect U.S. patients," he said.
