Bad Medicine - Parts 1 - 4

[Oscar]

Bad Medicine - Parts 1 - 4 Series by Michael Butler, Health Campaigner of the Council of Canadians
[ http://canadians.org/blogs/michael-butler ]

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Bad medicine pt. 1 - April 27, 2016
[ http://canadians.org/blog/bad-medicine-pt-1 ]
In a recent House of Commons committee on health [ http://www.parl.gc.ca/Committees/en/HESA/Meetings ], Health Canada finally acknowledged what health economists, academics and activists had been saying for some time: drug costs will rise under pending trade deals like the TPP.
Testifying before the committee was Abby Hoffman, Assistant Deputy Health Minister, who replied to questions stating, “High prescription drug costs will rise under pending free trade agreements... Yes, it’s true that Canadians in general receive less public support for their drug costs than many comparable countries.” [ https://www.blacklocks.ca/govt-sees-drug-costs-rising/ ]

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Bad medicine pt. 2 – April 29, 2016
[ http://canadians.org/blog/bad-medicine-pt-2 ]
In Part 1 we ended with the question: So what (or who) is driving this Liberal government to follow the Harper governments path in championing trade deals that are not in the interest of the country and why is this government evading its responsibilities to improve health of Canadians?

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Bad medicine pt. 3 - May 6, 2016
[ http://canadians.org/blog/bad-medicine-pt-3 ]
In this third article in the Bad Medicine series we will look at how changes to patent regimes resulting from trade deals- like the TPP and CETA- create less transparency into the pharmaceutical industries research and development (R&D) and their nefarious influence on medical practices.

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Bad medicine pt. 4 - May 9, 2016
[ http://canadians.org/blog/bad-medicine-pt-4 ]
Despite the increased patent rights over the past decade we are seeing less R&D, higher drug costs, and increased research into specialty drugs(specialty drugs – that cost up to $500,000 per year – now account for 25% of private drug spending in Canada). [ http://pharmacare2020.ca/ ]