After putting off changes to the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board regulations four times in the past, the Liberal government has effectively caved-in to the pharmaceutical industry and its allies when it comes to making prescriptions more affordable for Canadians. The excuse from Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos was “unspecified changes to the pharmaceutical landscape brought on by the pandemic” and the need for “a strong pharmaceutical industry”.
This is the same pharmaceutical industry that has gone from investing 12.5% of sales into Canadian research and development in 1995 to 3.5% in 2020.
Changes in the way that Canada regulates drug prices are sorely necessary; on a per capita basis Canada pays the third highest amount in the world for drugs and when it comes to individual drugs only the United States, Switzerland and Germany have higher prices.
No comments:
Post a Comment