Alberta government moves without warning to dramatically cut generic pricing to lowest level in the country

摘要

Pharmacy stakeholders in Alberta used words such as "shocked" and "blindsided" in response to the provinces budget of March 7,2013, which unexpectedly announced a reduction of all generic drug prices to 18% of brand-name rates, effective May 1.It was a move that came without consultation and without advance warning. "We knew things were tight with the deficit in the province," Byron Bergh, president of the Alberta Pharmacists' Association (RxA), told CPJ. "But we weren't prepared for anything like the announcement in the budget."