What if Big Pharma decided to say, Forget Canada – well pull our drug?
In a nutshell, that would constitute a ‘scorched earth’ approach that no rational pharmaceutical manufacturer would entertain. The public relations nightmare that would ensue would be more than enough to render this approach absurd. (Plus, it would be financially suicidal for public companies whose eyes have historically been fixed on the bottom line.) Also, it would mean their patent protection guaranteed by their participation in the PMPRB price controls would be null and void. In such an extreme case – and it hardly bears thinking about – the Canadian government would likely give the go ahead to generic drug companies to duplicate the formula, thereby ensuring that Canadians would continue to get the drugs they need. (Our own generic drug manufacturing companies are more than capable of stepping in and picking up the slack.) But this scenario is as far-fetched as any science fiction film.
