Experts raise alarm over high drug prices, could force new rules
From the globeandmail.com
Canadian regulators may be forced to create new rules to stop pharmaceutical companies from slapping exorbitant prices on prescription drugs and expecting governments and consumers to foot the bill, say several health-policy experts.
The growing problem of high drug prices reached a boiling point last week after reports of overnight price hikes for old drugs with expired patents. In one case, Turing Pharmaceuticals raised the price of Daraprim, used to treat life-threatening infections, to $750 (U.S.) a pill from $13.50.
CEO Martin Shkreli defended the move in a New York Times interview by saying, “This isn’t the greedy drug company trying to gouge patients; it is us trying to stay in business.” The company has since backtracked, saying it will reduce the planned price increase, although it has not indicated by how much.
U.S.-based Rodelis Therapeutics was forced to back down last week in the midst of a public backlash after it raised the price of the decades-old tuberculosis drug cycloserine to $10,800 for 30 pills from $500.
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