Generic drug prices inflated, committee reports

From the Vancouver Sun:
Inflated prices on generic prescription drugs mean B.C.'s Pharmacare program and drug consumers are paying hundreds of millions of dollars more for medications than they should be each year, says former auditor-general George Morfitt, a member of a committee asked by the provincial government to identify drug funding and approval reforms.

Recommendations of The Report of the Pharmaceutical Task Force were made public Wednesday.

"Canadian prices [on non-brand name, off-patent drugs] are about 40 per cent too high compared [with] other countries," Morfitt said in an interview, referring to the fact that pharmacies receive a 30- to 40-per-cent rebate on bulk purchases of drugs from manufacturers.

However, they don't bother passing on those savings to consumers and Pharmacare.

"Pharmacare is paying artificially high prices," Morfitt said after the

Health Minister George Abbott said the government accepts all the recommendations of the task force and agrees that while British Columbians spend more than $1 billion annually on pharmaceutical products, there are clearly cost savings which have yet to be attained. ...more

Drug spending rose to $27b last year on backs of new market entries

From the Canadian Press:
Spending on prescribed and over-the-counter drugs in Canada outpaced overall health spending last year, and grew faster than the rate of inflation, new figures show.

The Canadian Institute for Health Information reported Thursday that drug spending reached an estimated $27 billion in 2007. That's up 7.2 per cent from the $25 billion spent the previous year.

In comparison, total health spending last year rose 6.6 per cent, to $160 billion from $150 billion in 2006. Inflation hovered around two per cent.

The institute cites increased volume of drug use and the entry of new drugs into the market, which are typically introduced at higher prices, as reasons for the soaring drug costs.

However, the rate of growth for drug spending has slowed from an average annual rate of 9.5 per cent between 1985 and 2005. ...more

Strange Prescription

From Monday Magazine (BC):
The nine members of the provincial government’s new pharmaceutical task force include the head of Canada’s largest drug lobby group, but nobody to represent the interests of patients or the public.

“It’s a good idea to do this, but the compostion of the board is highly debateable,” says Adrian Dix, the NDP health critic. “I think it’s extraordinary and bizarre the pharmaceutical representatives were put on the panel this way. It’s really unfortunate patients are so poorly represented here.”

The highest profile drug industry representative on the task force is Russell Williams, the president of Canada’s Research-based Pharmaceutical Companies (Rx&D), a national lobby group with members from some 50 drug companies and whose directors include the presidents, CEOs and other top officials from 14 of the countries biggest drug manufacturers. ...more

Doctors could use more info on drug costs: study

I have to concur with this article. Generally, physicians are somewhat unaware of the price of medications. I just had an example of this in my practice where a physician was incorrect in their price estimate of a drug by thousands of dollars per month of treatment. Perhaps a pharmacist working collaboratively with a physician could help these types of situations. Ultimately, costs could be contained and patient outcomes could be improved.

From CTV News:
Soaring drug bills in Canada could be cut if doctors simply paid attention to the cost of the medications they prescribe, says a new federal report.

The study, commissioned by Industry Canada, found that Canadian physicians are generally oblivious to drug prices and often prescribe an expensive pharmaceutical when a cheap one would do.

"In Canada, there is no formal mechanism that credibly brings cost into the physician's decision-making process'' when issuing prescriptions, says the report by IMS Health Consulting Inc. ...more