Consumers miss out on generic-drug savings

This is from a few days ago, but since I haven't been updating the site quite as regularly as I should be, I didn't post anything about the growing controversy about generic drug prices. I have a feeling that this issue isn't going to go away.

From the Montreal Gazette:
A federal investigation into why Canada's generic drugs cost so much more than those in other countries has concluded there is plenty of competition between generic manufacturers - but patients, taxpayers and insurers are not benefitting from the resulting price war.

A burgeoning number of generic companies vying for space on drugstore shelves gives pharmacies rebates of up to 80 per cent off the wholesale price, the Competition Bureau says in a draft report obtained by the National Post. Those discounts, however, are not passed on by the retailers to governments or consumers, the agency says.

Tony Clement, federal minister of health, suggested last week that a few generic-drug companies have formed a virtual oligopoly that keeps prices inflated. ...more