Tough Pill to Swallow

The Senate's voted 49-40 to block you from buying cheaper prescriptions from Canada or other countries.

Big Pharma is keeping American prescription prices the highest in the world -- for drugs often made on the same assembly lines as those sold in other countries. From the AP:

Overseas, drugs can cost two-thirds less than they do in the United States, where prices for brand-name drugs are among the highest in the world. In many industrialized countries, prices are lower because they are either controlled or partially controlled by government regulation.

The Congressional Budget Office says allowing imports would save about $40 billion over 10 years. And it also worried about other countries banning exports to protect their supplies of prescription drugs. (AP)