It has long been rumored that Canadian pharmacies offer lower prices for prescription medications than their U.S. competitors. In recent years, cross-border pharmaceuticals runs have become increasingly popular and the trend has especially grown since the introduction of erectile dysfunction medications like sildenafil citrate (Viagra). More than 50 percent of men over 40 experience some degree of sexual dysfunction and as they attempt to stretch their dollars, buying cheap Viagra online from Canadian pharmacies is becoming more and more popular.

Although border-crossing to buy Viagra or any other prescription drugs for resale is illegal, buying cheap Viagra from Canada for personal (90 day supply) use is not. Often, Canadian pharmacies sell Viagra online in up to 90-day supplies.

Despite all the attention given Canadian pharmacies and the many people who buy Viagra online from Canada, a recent study compared the actual money savings of these online Canadian pharmacies versus popular American online pharmacies and came up with some interesting results. The pharmacies in question were chosen from PharmacyChecker.com, an unbiased source that rates pharmacies on their trustworthiness and cost-effectiveness.

The test chose 14 of these Canadian pharmacies listed on PharmacyChecker.com, and only those with perfect ratings. The U.S. pharmacies were brick and mortar retail locations that also offered online ordering. The three U.S. pharmacies chosen were CVS, Walgreens, and Rite-Aid because they fulfilled all these qualifications. In order to control the experiment, the prices were all taken on the same day. Moreover, they were taken as the unit cost for the same number of units. It’s not fair to compare cost per unit of 1000 units of one drug to cost per unit of 100 units of another, because of quantity discounts. The prices were taken based on the top fifty highest-grossing drugs for the previous year in the U.S. These included four generic drugs and forty-six brand name drugs. The prices were taken as a mean for all the pharmacies, and then multiplied to find the annual cost to a daily user.

The results for all fifty drugs were interesting. As a whole, Canadian pharmacies are cheaper – much cheaper. However, for those who looking for cheap Viagra or sildenafil citrate, U.S. pharmacies fared much better than their Canadian counterparts. In fact, the average erectile dysfunction sufferer can buy Viagra online at a savings of $3.40 per unit by purchasing from an online U.S. pharmacy. The reason for this phenomenon is simple supply and demand. In the U.S., Viagra and sildenafil are household names for erectile dysfunction treatment. Think about it. It’s difficult to watch an hour of television without seeing a commercial for Cialis, Levitra, or Viagra. The supply of these prescription medications is much greater in America; as such, it is generally easier to find cheap Viagra online from U.S. pharmacies.