[fabsroman]

PJ,

I didn't miss the point. We all want to live forever, but that costs money. That is just plain and simple. Right before I was born, my grandfather was diagnosed with a heart condition and he needed surgery. Problem was that he didn't have insurance and he wasn't an American citizen, so he merely went back to Italy and died one day riding his bike because he never was able to afford the surgery. To this day, my father keeps on telling me that he wished his father had lived to see me because he really would have enjoyed being around me and hunting and fishing with me. Yep, it breaks my heart and I kept telling myself that I was going to try my hardest to make sure that my dad got to spend some time with his grandchildren. Mission accomplished last week.

Now, I look at all the meds that my in-laws take and I wonder about some of them. My father in-law had a heart attack about 5 years ago, but he was also a heavy smoker (i.e., 2 packs a day). They complain about their med costs too. Kind of like a guy that complains about transplant meds that he needs to pay for because of a liver transplant needed because of his heavy drinking.

We Americans are terrible about our health and then we want modern medicine to come to the rescue for all of us. How many people suffer heart attacks because they don't watch what they eat and they don't exercise? How many Americans have lung cancer because they decided to smoke even though they knew it would kill them? How many Americans have health problems because they drink too much?

Anyway, back to the point. Is there any difference in the manner that prescriptions are filled from Canada versus in the US? Is there any potential health risk from having prescriptions filled outside the country? I used to know the answer to these questions, but I flushed them out of my head. I'll try to remember to ask my wife about them at dinner tonight.

As far as the Viagra is concerned, that is just another quality of life medication, and not a do or die medication. I'm not crying about anybody who cannot afford their Viagra. Maybe they never should have spent R&D money on that anyway, because we never would have missed it if it weren't around.

Health care is a serious issue in this country, but I just feel as though it is because of our lifestyle. I went to Italy in 2001 for a 3 week vacation, and I never noticed any obese people. It was insane.