Monday, February 04, 2008

Tendering touted as B.C.'s drug solution

From the Vancouver Sun:
The future of British Columbia's Pharmacare program rests in the controversial practice of forcing drug companies to compete for contracts, Health Minister George Abbott says.

'If there's going to be any hope of corralling the ever-escalating costs in this area it is going to be through those [competitive] processes,' Abbott said in a recent interview.

'I don't see any other ready answers to that constant escalation of costs,' he added.

Abbott's comments come as one of the province's first experiments in competition-based contracting remains before the courts.

In November, the government issued a tender asking two companies to compete for a contract to exclusively supply Pharmacare with olanzapine, an anti-psychotic medication used to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. ...more

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