News Release CICPO
23/012/11 St. John’s for immediate release:
CICPO to ask Government to remove Shopper’s
Drug Mart Private Label Generics
Ontario Court of
Appeal upholds ban on Sanis Products
The Council of Independent Community Pharmacy Owners will
formally ask that government remove Sanis generic drugs from the provincial
formulary. This follows a decision by the Ontario Court of Appeal that sided
with the Government of Ontario. The court said it agreed that the province
could reasonably conclude private label generics would reduce competitiveness
and drive up prices.
“This is what the
Council has advised the Government of Newfoundland and Labrador. This is only
one of many concerns we have regarding a pharmacy chain manufacturing its own generic
medications”, says Executive Director Sue Kelland-Dyer.
The provincial government listed Shopper’s Drug Mart
generics on the formulary last year, disregarding the legal challenge that was
moving forward in Ontario. Kelland-Dyer states, “The CICPO was surprised that Minister Jerome Kennedy moved so quickly
to accommodate the large national chain when it moves so slowly to list other generics
– thereby wasting hundreds of thousands of health care dollars.”
The Winnipeg Free Press also reported the following
statement regarding the ruling:
“BMO Capital Markets
analyst Peter Sklar said the Ontario ban won't prevent Shoppers from selling
Sanis products in other provinces where they are permitted. In addition, the
volume discounts that the retailer gets from its contract drug suppliers will
probably offset the revenue it lost when the province banned the fees to it
from generic manufacturers.”
“We can take from
this that people in our province are expected to protect the stock value of
Shopper’s Drug Mart instead of developing policies that protect people and
local pharmacies in rural and inner-city neighbourhoods”, concludes
Kelland-Dyer.
Complete Court of Appeal Decision: http://www.ontariocourts.on.ca/decisions/2011/2011ONCA0830.pdf
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