"Generics Could Save Canadians C$30 Mill"

Speaking before the Parliamentary Commission on Social Affairs, which is currently hearing briefs from various interest groups regarding Canada's proposed medicines insurance plan, Jean-Guy Goulet, vice president of the Canadian Drug Manufacturers Association, stated that if the government clearly indicated in its legislation that the new drug insurance should reimburse only the lowest-priced product, it, and the entire population, would stand to save over C$30 million ($21.3 million) a year.

This followed the unveiling last month of Health Minister Jean Rochnon's universal prescription drug plan, which will add 1.2 million people to the ranks of the insured, and at the same time take a chunk out of the income of the elderly, and increase costs for many people on welfare and in group insurance plans. The plan, due to come into operation January 1, 1997, will be mandatory.

Supporting his position with a series of figures, Mr Goulet explained that the decision not to abolish the 15-year rule for patent protection on drugs, which significantly delays the entry of generic drugs onto the market, is tantamount to asking the public to subsidize the multinational pharmaceutical companies, whose products are often 50% more expensive than generic drugs.