Run for the Border
Niagara Falls, Ontario - April 29, 2006 - The bus pulled up to the pharmacy on Dorchester Rd in Niagara Falls today in what is becoming a routine spectacle for the locals. The bus is filled with 87 members of the U.S. Senate, who are making their third trip to this Canadian border town to pick up their prescription medicines.
The reason why they're here is because in late February, as a cost-cutting measure, the Senators were forced to give up the prescription drug benefit in their health plans. For most elderly U.S. citizens, acquiring the drugs is done online through local and state programs, but since the District of Columbia has to follow Federal Law, which still bans using the internet to buy the drugs, the Senators are forced to drive up to Ontario on this chartered bus.
"It's quite a spectacle, eh?" said pharmacist Rob Donaldson, who is surprisingly healthy for someone who lives in a country with cheap drugs, socialized health care, and ice hockey.
The Senators themselves have grown to enjoy the bi-weekly trip, especially since they realized that even with the cost of transportation, the amount of money they save on Viagra is far worth it. Senator Jim Bunning of Kentucky, who takes an assortment of drugs that help him walk, talk, and chew gum simultaneously, is the first one off the bus. Donaldson and his co-workers fill the prescriptions, only being held up occasionally to explain to some of the Senators that even if they got a prescription for marijuana, they probably wouldn't be able to bring it back. "That sounds like a stupid law," replied Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia, eliciting a shrug from Donaldson and a sample of some Canadian wit. "Well, then why don't you change it?"
After the Senators collected their loot of cheap medicine, the Democratic Senators gathered in their usual place in the back of the bus, looking forward to two more weeks of a heavily medicated existence as obsolete members of the United States Government. "Good thing we let market forces drive our health care system," joked Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, "I can't imagine how expensive these drugs would be if we had Canada's system."
The reason why they're here is because in late February, as a cost-cutting measure, the Senators were forced to give up the prescription drug benefit in their health plans. For most elderly U.S. citizens, acquiring the drugs is done online through local and state programs, but since the District of Columbia has to follow Federal Law, which still bans using the internet to buy the drugs, the Senators are forced to drive up to Ontario on this chartered bus.
"It's quite a spectacle, eh?" said pharmacist Rob Donaldson, who is surprisingly healthy for someone who lives in a country with cheap drugs, socialized health care, and ice hockey.
The Senators themselves have grown to enjoy the bi-weekly trip, especially since they realized that even with the cost of transportation, the amount of money they save on Viagra is far worth it. Senator Jim Bunning of Kentucky, who takes an assortment of drugs that help him walk, talk, and chew gum simultaneously, is the first one off the bus. Donaldson and his co-workers fill the prescriptions, only being held up occasionally to explain to some of the Senators that even if they got a prescription for marijuana, they probably wouldn't be able to bring it back. "That sounds like a stupid law," replied Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia, eliciting a shrug from Donaldson and a sample of some Canadian wit. "Well, then why don't you change it?"
After the Senators collected their loot of cheap medicine, the Democratic Senators gathered in their usual place in the back of the bus, looking forward to two more weeks of a heavily medicated existence as obsolete members of the United States Government. "Good thing we let market forces drive our health care system," joked Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts, "I can't imagine how expensive these drugs would be if we had Canada's system."
posted by thehim at 9:55 PM
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