EDMONTON – Hundreds of protestors gathered outside the Alberta legislature Thursday to voice their opposition to the province’s plan to reduce payments for generic drugs.
“What we need to do is have a real discussion on how quickly we can do these cuts, and how severely,” said Shane St. Arnault, a pharmacist and owner of Shane’s Guardian Pharmacy in Redwater. “A lot of other jurisdictions, provinces in Canada have lowered their drug prices, but not as drastically as Alberta has, and not as quickly, and with as many possible damaging effects.”
Health Minister Fred Horne has announced that the province will cut in half what it is currently paying for generic drugs. As of May 1, the rebate the province provides to pharmacists will drop from 35 per cent to 18 per cent.
“Ontario, BC have gone down to 25 per cent,” explains St. Arnault. “Other provinces are looking at that same thing.”
“18 per cent – how did we get this number? Some medications can be cut down to 18 per cent. A lot of medications cannot be produced at 18 per cent, so what happens? Companies are going to decide that they can’t make things at a loss, they’re going to be discontinued, and we’ve already seen that,” added St. Arnault.
He said that pharmacists support lower costs for patients, but they want to be part of the dialogue to come up with a solution that won’t lead to negative impacts on pharmacies and patients.
“Drug shortages have become a bigger and bigger problem over the last two, three, five years as governments have been cutting costs of generics… they’re getting worse and they’re getting longer.”
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Pharmacists have said the cut could severely impact their bottom line and lead to layoffs or even pharmacy closures.
“It’s a very real possibility given our situation that at the end of the day if there’s not some kind of sustainability that we’re at risk,” admitted St. Arnault.
Similar rallies were held Thursday across the province.
“What we’re really concerned about is pharmacies have been funded greatly by rebates and things through the generic manufacturing,” said Calgary pharmacist Randy Howden. “As those prices come down, of course some of the ways that we fund our services are being reduced and we don’t have that same source of income.”
The rally at Calgary’s McDougall Centre saw hundreds of protestors attend.
“We’re really hoping to create awareness about the situation and what these deep cuts will mean for our patients,” said Calgary pharmacist Jocelyn St. Amour. “We really want the government to talk with the Alberta Pharmacists Association and come up with some long term solutions, so we can continue to provide the level of care we’ve been providing.”
Health Minister Fred Horne said Wednesday that the province would invest $40 million this year to help pharmacists adjust to the changes.
In addition, there will be $10.6 million over two years to try to keep the doors open on rural pharmacies, which are considered particularly vulnerable due to comparatively smaller customer bases.
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