22 January 2019 - Imagine yourself in some hip new coffee shop. All you want is your standard cup to get through the morning. The barista immediately waves off your order to suggest an array of fancy beans and pour-overs.

When you ask about the price, you are told there’s no public list or display. However, the barista leans in to assure you: “This isn’t the world’s most expensive coffee shop. Maybe the second or third most expensive, but I’ll throw in a free pastry as long as you don’t tell anyone else what you paid.”

Wondering how such an operation could ever stay in business? So are we. Yet this Kafkaesque coffee shop actually reflects how Canadian drug prices are set and regulated today. No wonder Canadians are paying some of the highest prescription drug prices in the world. In fact, measured as costs per person, a 2018 report suggests our drug spending trails only the United States. Even the generic drug spending data pegs us paying considerably more than most other developed countries.

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