Federal Health Minister Jane Philpott is vowing to bring down what she calls unacceptably high drug costs by bringing in regulatory changes by the end of 2018.
She says the cost of prescription drugs is now higher than the cost of doctors and has skyrocketed since 1984 by more than 50 per cent.
Philpott points out the overprescribing and unneccessary prescribing of drugs costs the Canadian healthcare system something like $400 million dollars a year. She says one in three of us is taking at least five precription drugs a day and Canada has the third highest drug prices according to a 2015 study.
The Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions is advocating a national pharmacare program which it claims would save $11.4 billion every year in decreased drug costs and administration fees.
(Photo on CPAC)