I can't believe I actually crossed international borders for medical care. Yes, this morning we awoke early, dug out our passports and drove the hour and a half to Canada, where certain places are willing to share Canada's expected flu shot surplus before an official deal is brokered between our governments. This is not "reimporting" (I believe the technical term is "smuggling") cheaper drugs from Canada. We plunked down $50 American apiece for something that usually costs $20 stateside, and I'm just guessing it is not that much more expensive to Canadians. When someone has a supply of something scarce, they get to set the price and the consumer just has to decide if they think the cost is worth what they're getting. For us, it was. Fifty clams plus time, gas, and tolls is still much less than the $300 our local pharmacy wanted to charge for FluMist (giving them a tidy 1812% markup) and less than we'd lose being out of work with the flu.
I'm just glad that, whatever the price, Canadians are willing to share, whatever the price. I'm thinking they may not be so accommodating next year.
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