There is a common misconception that American prices for prescription medications are excessive because they are often higher than prices in Canada. This leads some people to suggest that the overall cost burden of prescription drug spending in the United States is unfair. However, the fact is that the relative burden of prescription drug spending is roughly equivalent in both countries. To a much greater degree than in Canada, American prescription drug policies have allowed market forces to determine the premium paid for the most innovative brand-name products while allowing competition to discount the prices of generic copies. Government involvement in prescription drug markets in Canada, on the other hand, produces no personal affordability advantages for consumers on average compared to the more market-friendly approaches in the United States.