Last week I saw my buddy, Tommy. Tommy doesn't keep up with current events much and he doesn't have a TV. He's an outdoors guy. We were downing a beer when the bar TV played a Viagra ad.

"Hey, is that about what I think it's about?"

"Yes Tommy, there are more needs for drugs today than illnesses. This one just sort of helps things along."

"Wow next thing ya know they'll replace Tums with a prescription."

"They already have Tommy, it's called the Purple Pill. And insurance pays for it."

"I don't have insurance. Never had a job, never had anybody offer me insurance. I just pay. How much is that Viagra stuff for one pill?"

"I don't think they sell it that way, Tommy, I think you have to get a prescription and buy a month's worth. Without insurance that would be about $300."

"Geez, nobody can afford that."

"Well, you're right Tommy, but it is a lot cheaper in Mexico."

"Huh? We make it in America and they get to buy it for less than me? That's nutty."

"But it costs so much for the research that the drug companies have to charge us more Tommy."

"Well, if it costs so much why don't they make the Mexicans pay more."

"The Mexicans won't pay any more Tommy, they have state fixed pricing."

"We should do that, have fixed pricing."

"But, Tommy, the federal government passed a new prescription law that the government can't even ask the price they have to pay. It's illegal."

"You gotta be kidding me. They pay whatever the company says to payŠno argument, no special deal for buying a bijillion?"

"Right, it's part of the deal. To help Americans afford prescriptions."

"Well, seems to me they could help more by fighting for a better deal. But hey, if these drug companies have to compete, then maybe that's how they figure the price."

"Well , they don't exactly compete, Tommy. They have patents, you know exclusive rights to sell the drugs they market."

"So they got no competition, the government won't ask for a deal and they sell it everywhere else in the world for less?"

"When you say it that way Tommy it sounds not so good."

"It's awful. They must be terrible managers. All of these deals and they still can't make any money. That's poor management buddy."

"But they make lots of money, Tommy. Actually, they are the most profitable companies in the world."

"Now I'm confused again. If they make lots of money why can't they lower the prices so sick people can afford the drugs?"

"Tommy, you can get the drugs mailed in from Canada. Then it's cheaper. But the government is making that illegal because it may not be safe."

"So they have had a lot of problems mailing the drugs from Canada?"

"No Tommy, actually never a single problem mailing them from Canada."

"This is making my head hurt. If I have to get drugs mailed from Canada so I can afford them, why is it illegal to do that if there is no problem with it?"

"Tommy, leave this kind of thing to me. It's obvious. Just because over 20 years in Europe and Canada there have been zero incidents of drug transportation problems, that does not mean it isn't dangerous."

"It doesn't? Hey, all of this has made my stomach upset. Got a Tums I can borrow?"

Jim Crawford is employed at Ohio University and is a partner in Interconnections, LLC, a Tri-State strategic planning consultancy. He can be reached at drjim893@msn.com. The views expressed by Dr. Crawford are his and his alone, and do not represent the views of Ohio University or Interconnections, LLC.