Canada's govt blamed for high generic prices

A think-tank has put the blame for higher generic drug prices for senior citizens in Canada on the federal government, arguing that identical products cost 118% more in 2006 than in the USA. The peer-reviewed study, Seniors and Drug Prices in Canada and the United States, was published by the free-market oriented Fraser Institute. It found that, on average, Canadian prices for the generic drugs most commonly prescribed to seniors were up sharply from 2003 when the gap with those in the USA was 64%.

"Canadian seniors are paying unfair prices for generic drugs because of faulty pricing and reimbursement policies used by government-run public drug plans," said Brett Skinner, the Institute's director of health, pharmaceutical and insurance policy research and lead author of the study.

By contrast, Canadian prices for patent-protected drugs most commonly prescribed for people aged 60 years and over were 52% lower on average than identical products in the USA. This compares with a 36% lower cost on average in 2003.