Pharmaceutical companies have increased costs of some medications to such an extent that citizens are getting prescriptions filled abroad.  A vial of insulin that Adam Kozie once bought for about $50, with insurance, now costs more than $140, he said -- inspiring him to drive to Canada, where he pays less than $30 (U.S.) per vial.

"A clinic of mine doesn't go by without at least one person getting their insulin from another country -- usually Canada," said Dr. Irl Hirsch, a UW Medicine diabetes expert.