Politicians have to stop creating impediments to access
By Nigel Rawson and John Adams Macdonald-Laurier Institute On April 14, 2022, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos announced the federal government’s decision to cancel most of its plan for the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB) to regulate significantly lower prices for new medicines in Canada – a mess created five years ago by then Health…
Canada's separate environmental protection oversight unnecessarily delays development and approval
By Nigel Rawson and Mackenzie Moir The Fraser Institute The federal government plans to move ahead with major revisions in regulations governing the tribunal that sets ceiling prices for new prescription drugs in Canada. Revisions include: replacing countries with relatively higher drug prices with lower price countries in the international price-comparison analysis'; enforcing hard thresholds…
Manufacturers must overcome several federal government hurdles before patients have access to drugs
The federal government has proposed major changes to the role of the Patent Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB), whose primary function is to ensure that maximum Canadian prices for patented medicines aren’t excessive. The changes, due to come into effect in 2019, will impact all new drugs but especially those for patients with rare disorders…
Health Canada’s revisions to the drug-pricing review board will delay or prevent access to new drugs
Everyone wants affordable medicines, but are Canadians prepared to accept the trade-off of even longer delays before we can access innovative drugs? Last May, then-federal health minister Jane Philpott announced proposed changes to the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB) designed “to protect Canadians from excessive drug prices.” PMPRB is an independent federal organization that,…