TORONTO – Shoppers Drug Mart says it is disappointed with a Supreme Court ruling today that upholds Ontario’s ban on big pharmacies selling their own private-label generic drugs.
The high court decision today is a key win for Ontario in its crusade to clamp down on ever-increasing health-care costs.
In a 7-to-0 decision, the Supreme Court justices said the province’s 2010 decision to outlaw the practice was consistent with its efforts to ensure transparent drug pricing.
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Shoppers Drug Mart issued a short statement, saying it respects the Supreme Court’s decision but adding it’s disappointed with the outcome.
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The law was an attempt by the deficit-strapped provincial government to cut health-care costs.
Shoppers and Rexall — two of Canada’s largest pharmaceutical chains — challenged the province because they wanted to be able to sell their own lower-priced generic versions of big-name drugs.
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This applies only to prescription medicines, not over-the-counter products, such as the Life brands we see on store shelves.
Shoppers and Rexall had started their own prescription generic drug lines – Shoppers, for example, had a prescription line called Sanis. These drugs weren’t manufactured in-house – they were purchased from existing manufacturers and packaged under another name.
For consumers, the option between the generic version and the Shoppers or Rexall generic version would be the same. But it’s unclear if or for how long the pharmacies were selling generic drugs under their own label.
Essentially, the pharmacy chains wanted to get into the drug manufacturing market.
They argued that private labelling allowed them to cut costs by using their own version of the drugs rather than those bought from a manufacturer.
But experts have said it’s unlikely they would pass the savings on to customers.
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