Thursday, May 27, 2010

Update on generic drugs and pharmacies

Here's an update by Andre Picard that does a reasonable job of trying to update the ON situation across a wide range of topics (which is not that easy to do) ;)

Ontario’s backroom deals make for drug-policy chaos

"The heated battle between the Ontario government and pharmacists over the pricing of generic drugs seems to have cooled a bit.

The new rules were supposed to be in place already, but the provincial government has quietly delayed their implementation. Not coincidentally, the province’s powerful drug czar, Helen Stevenson, is set to step down, setting the stage for some concessions."

Here's an article on Helen Stevenson stepping down, which states:

"Provincial Liberals contended that Ms. Stevenson had been planning to leave for some time, once the generics fight was over. They pointed out that, although she earned $280,000 last year, she took a pay cut to work in government.

A senior industry representative noted the difficulty of the work, calling it “a tough job without enough resources.” It’s also a job that has placed Ms. Stevenson under constant personal attack, and prompted her to travel with a security detail after complaining about threats of violence."

I think there's little doubt Ms. Stevenson's job is pretty stressful - bodyguards!

Amusing headline

The headline on the National Post's website right now is "Industry minister admits to breaking copyright law to build iPod collection."

Article here. Michael Geist of course has lots to say about copyright reform.