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“I am a Canadian, free to speak without fear, free to worship in my own way, free to stand for what I think right, free to oppose what I believe wrong, or free to choose those who shall govern my country. This heritage of freedom I pledge to uphold for myself and all mankind.” ~~ John G. Diefenbaker

THE WAY I SEE IT -- Blaming the drug makers is not reasonable if we made no effort to ensure supply continuance


Cancer doctors are calling for a permanent fix to drug shortages in Canada.  Three chemotherapy cancer drugs face national shortages, putting pressure on health care providers
Amina Zafar ~~ CBC News ~~ Aug 05, 2019

Cancer specialists are concerned national shortages of three vital cancer drugs could lead to a time when they could run out of treatment options for patients in Canada...

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This situation is flat-out unacceptable.

Pharmaceutical manufacturers make $ billions on their patented drugs, having a monopoly on sales for the duration of their 20-year patents.

To be fair, drugs are patented on discovery and have to go though clinical trials and can face legal challenges before they can be approved. If clinical trials fail, the drug maker has an expensive and useless patent on its hands.

Then there is the bureaucracy of the approving authority. Health Canada is not renowned for its swiftness. In real terms from approval date to patent expiry may be a little as ten years.

There is no guarantee that a generic version of any drug will be produced following patent expiry. With specialty drugs such as cancer drugs, it would make sense to require a drug maker to continue supplies for 3 to 5 years after patent expiry. If no acceptable generic version has surfaced, we have the option of contracting with the drug maker for a continued supply.

Health Canada was asleep at the switch.

It knew the patents were expiring. It could have contracted for a continuing supply or even oversupply. Blaming the drug makers is not reasonable if we made no effort to ensure supply continuance.

Officials at Health Canada should be held to account. We don’t need legislation to employ common sense.


John Feldsted
Political Commentator, Consultant, & Strategist
Winnipeg, Manitoba
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