Alberta revisits drug funding

It's no surprise that the generic/rebate debate is spreading across the country. It looks like Alberta is going to be moving on it soon. Since Alberta has seen value in pharmacy services and has been open to pharmacist prescribing, perhaps they will be a bit more friendly to pharmacists compared to what has happened in Ontario.

From the Calgary Herald:
On a May day in 2006, as Ontario Health Minister George Smitherman spoke to a luncheon crowd at Toronto's National Club about his plan to cut drug spending, opposition to the proposal raged outside.

Pharmacists, wearing their white lab coats, protested at the club while Smitherman gave his speech.

They said the plan would deal a serious blow to their business -- forcing them to lay off staff -- because it banned pharmaceutical firms from paying pharmacies lucrative "rebates" to carry their products. ...more