Washington, D.C. – A new price comparison of leading brand name prescription drugs finds that American’s online Canadian pharmacies more affordable than AmazonPharmacy, GoodRx or traditional U.S. pharmacies. The new analysis released by the Campaign for Personal Prescription Importation (CPPI) found that prescription drugs are 50% to 88% cheaper at licensed online Canadian pharmacies compared to coupon and Prime discount prices at U.S. pharmacy competitors.
“Drug prices in America are as high as they’ve ever been, and finding 50% to 90% savings from Canadian pharmacies can literally mean life or death for patients,” says Jack Pfeiffer, CPPI Executive Director. “The big marketing and advertising budgets of pharmacies like CVS and newer options like Amazon and GoodRx have captured headlines, but they don’t come close to the savings offered by online Canadian pharmacies.”
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“This new comparison and years of CPPI analysis show that American patients can find the biggest prescription drug price savings at certified online Canadian pharmacies,” says Pfeiffer.
SAVINGS CPPI survey data shows that Americans are finding $245 average monthly savings (nearly $3,000 savings a year) on prescription drugs from online Canadian pharmacies. People who spend more than $300 a month on prescriptions find $648 average monthly savings.
SAFETY Purchasing prescription medications for importation from licensed and certified online Canadian pharmacies is safe and easy. For decades, FDA guidance has helped people safely import medications. Online pharmacies recommended by CPPI like those certified by the Canadian International Pharmacy Association (CIPA) report a 100% perfect safety record while serving millions of American customers since 2002. As of 2020, 2.3 million Americans import medications, and the number of people ordering their medications online is growing according to the Alliance for Safe Online Pharmacies.
COMPARISON METHODOLOGY & NOTES This comparison reflects prices for 30 day supplies of top selling brand-name medications using the most common strengths prescribed to patients. Prices recorded as of Dec 15, 2020. Pricing and discounts do fluctuate day by day. The recorded percentages reflect savings offered by certified online Canadian pharmacies over the lowest U.S. discount price, be those from Amazon Prime or a traditional U.S. pharmacy as reported by GoodRx. All prices are in U.S. dollars. This comparison reflects prices without insurance.
Canadian mail order prescription pricing calculated using the average price of pharmacies certified by Canadian International Pharmacy Association (CIPA). Canadian product pricing is for Health Canada approved brand name products, dispensed by a pharmacy licensed in Canada. Over 70 websites have CIPA certification, prices vary.
Amazon Pharmacy is not yet available in all regions of the U.S. Amazon orders are limited to 30 day supplies. Figure 1 displays prices at the discounted Amazon Prime rate, non-Prime prices and discount percentage are included in Table 1.
Prices for traditional pharmacies were compared through GoodRx, and the lowest discount/coupon prices are reflected in the U.S./GoodRx column. GoodRx gathers current prices, coupons and discounts from leading traditional pharmacy operators including CVS, Walgreens, Rite Aid, Costco, Safeway, Albertsons, Publix and others.