Drug Price Controls and Pharmaceutical Innovation
Drug costs have undeniably risen more quickly than other health care costs. The share of drugs in overall Canadian health care spending went from 10.8% in 1988 to 15.7% in 2001. However, the higher drug expenses facing Canada’s health care systems are not due to price increases imposed by multinational pharmaceutical firms. Various factors explain the growth in drug spending.
This article is a reproduction of MEI’s Economic Note entitled Drug Price Controls and Pharmaceutical Innovation on the effects of the federal drug price control policy.