Big Pharma Is Making Mexico Sick. Medicine and Supply Shortages Are Rampant.

"The U.S. has the highest medical and health care costs in the world - a reality that is driving 1.2 million medical tourists from there to Mexico each year, where up-front costs are lower. Yet for Mexicans whose wages or incomes are many times lower, living in the country with the most expensive medicine in Latin America presents an obstacle to treatment."

"Mexico faces serious, deadly shortages of medicines and supplies like gauze and gloves in its complex hospital system, as well as a thriving informal market. Big Pharma is having a free-for-all in Mexico and in the U.S. In both countries, the private health sector is using monopolistic practices to dominate, and to marginalize public care. Mexican President Claudia Sheinbaum recently announced that branches of the public health system catering separately to formal employees or to poorer, informal sectors would be integrated."

Mexico experiences deadly shortages of medicines and basic supplies such as gauze and gloves across its hospital system, while an informal market for supplies thrives. High U.S. medical costs drive 1.2 million Americans to seek cheaper care in Mexico annually, yet Mexicans face prohibitive prices for medicine relative to low incomes. The private health sector and multinational pharmaceutical and device companies exercise monopolistic practices that marginalize public care and increase reliance on private providers. Government plans to integrate separate public health branches will not immediately resolve hospitals' inability to meet basic needs, contributing to preventable deaths.

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