20 July 2018 - While the federal government’s proposed amendments to Canada’s patented medicines regulations are aimed at reducing the cost of prescription drugs, they risk limiting patient access to new, innovative medications, according to a new report by the Fraser Institute.

“Establishing drug prices has always been a balance between affordability and accessibility, but by markedly shifting the scales towards lower prices, Canadian patients will likely have less access to life-saving drugs,” said Kristina Acri, a senior fellow at the think tank and author of the report.

The proposed amendments to the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board regulations, put forward by the government in a consultation process in May 2017, include an update of the reference countries Canada uses to compare its prices internationally. The list currently includes Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland and the United States. The government is proposing removing the latter two countries in favour of adding Australia, Belgium, Japan, the Netherlands, Norway, South Korea and Spain.

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