Albertans may pay high cost for cheaper generic drugs
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| English: Close-up of 0.5mg tablets of the brand name benzodiazepine drug, Ativan. Generic name is Lorazepam. (Photo credit: Wikipedia) |
Ontario did it first. Alberta followed suit, outdoing Ontario. Reducing generic drug reimbursement prices. Government paid advertisements (how much is that costing taxpayers? Actually just found out - $400,000!) would have you believe this is saving Alberta over $90 million big ones. The ramifications will be much more severe, more than what the government will let you know, maybe more than they fathomed.
Excerpt from featured Edmonton Journal letter:
"Beginning May 1, the Alberta government will force generic drug manufacturers to sell their products at 18 per cent of the price brand name drugs are sold at, compared with the current 35 per cent.
Hypothetically, if a bottle of Druggin costs $100, its generic equivalent Drugsler must be sold at $18, decreasing the generic drug manufacturer’s profit by $17 per bottle.
As profits decrease, the large generic drug manufacturers will react in two ways.
First, they will reduce or eliminate the rebates they pay to pharmacies for using their products. Pharmacies will, in turn, be forced to reduce their hours and their staff, even though the demand for pharmacists’ services will increase as baby boomers grow old and require more medication.
Second, generic drug manufacturers will reduce the supply of generic medications in Alberta."
Read the full article at The Edmonton Journal.
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