- Email: [email protected]
probe of Canadian pharmacy
a ~Iittle Kefauver hearing' ••• T
he Canadian pharmaceutical industry is being subjected to a political probe on the cost and distribution of drugs . The Ontario Government Select Committee on Drugs is conducting the investigation primarily on the cost of drugs to hospitals and institutions. H.L. Rowntree is chairing the committee and has stated that the " ... investigation must of necessity go into the question of retail pharmacists ... " The committee is also delving into prescribing habits and is discussing generic vs. trademarked drugs. Horace J. Fuller, a University of Toronto professor, pointed out to the committee that he had analyzed 42,545 prescriptions and 41.3 percent had been dispensed at a loss. He also noted that only 0.4415 percent of the personal disposable income of Ontario residents was spent on prescribed medicines. Professor Fuller told the committee that the "practicability of the use of generic names is much overrated" and he based his statement on a study of a number of consecutive prescriptions being conducted to determine the feasibility of generic prescribing. Speaking on the cost of ingredients in prescriptions, Professor Fuller stated that the average cost has increased because of the change in the nature of the ingredient. The drugs prescribed
probe of Canadian pharmacy
today are just not the same drugs that were prescribed 10 or 15 years ago, he commented. Dr. Ian MacDonald, director of postgraduate studies in the school of medicine, University of Toronto, told the committee that his personal preference " ... is to order by generic name." " . . . as far as the generic names of drugs is concerned," he stated, "it is the preferable thing." However, Dr. MacDonald pointed out that he does specify the manufacturer on some drugs ". . . because on the basis of experience I have found that this particular maker makes something that is particularly reliable." Other facts brought out by witnesses before the committee were that the average Canadian spent $7.50 on prescription drugs in 1959. He spent five times as much on tobacco and eight times as much on automobile operations. And drug manufacturers realized a profit of slightly more than three cents of the retail sales dollar. Eleven of the Canadian pharmaceutical manufacturers reported total capital expenditure on research and development laboratories and equipment of $2,456,332 in 1959. The percentage of gross sales dollar allocated to research and development was 6.3 percent. The general manager of the Canadian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associa-
tion, S.N. Conder, told the committee that Canada offers its people one of the lowest medical care costs in the world, according to a study ' by the International Labor Organizations. He denied that 90 percent of the pharmaceutical preparations used in Canada was imported and stated that about 17 percent of the dollar value of drugs was imported in 1958, the last year for which complete figures are available. Of 28 pharmaceutical manufacturers surveyed, only six percent of their respective lines are imported, Conder explained. All of these companies also maintain their packaging operations in Canada and average 96 percent of their packaging on the premises. He also told the committee that the proper place to test and insure the quality of a drug is at its source of manufacture during the time it is being made. When the drug arrives in the hands of the doctor or patient, there should be no question whatever about the quality of the drug. Conder told the committee that the CPMA member firms would be willing to submit their products for government testing as long as they did not have to bear the cost. But, he stated, the economy of testing generic name drugs appears false because any savings that might be realized would be eaten up with testing costs. •
progress report • • • health for peace plan At a news conference on November 17, HEW Secretary Arthur S . Flemming reported that one of the most important missions of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare is to contribute t o the "health for peace plan." The funds devoted to Public Health Service activities in the international health field have increased about five-fold since 1958 and, according to Flemming-
I\..
The use of these funds will constitute 0 major contribution to human progress throughout the world, not only to health but to peaceful relations. Health is on indispensable link to worldwide understanding and goodwill. All notions wont better health for their people. Co.operation among notions-among their scientists, scholars, teachers, physicians-is the surest rood toward better health for all. like disease itself, scientific knowledge knows no geographic boundaries. All nations of the world can contribute, all can benefit. Mutual exchange, mutual aid, mutual cooperation-this is the key.
Surgeon General Leroy E. Burney noted that Public Law 86-610, the International Health Research Act of 1960, added some very significant elements to U.S. international research and training activities, not only within the Public Health Service but in other agencies of HEW as well. Under the provisions of the act, President Eisenhower was authorized to advance the international status of the health sciences through health research, planning and training in foreign countries. HEW, through the Public Health Service, was authorized to support medical research activities in foreign countries. In line with these principles, Burney notes that the National Institutes of Health proposes to use a majority of these funds to establish International Research and Training Centers. Dr. Colin McLeon, of the New York University School of Medicine, is chairman
of a special committee which will help establish policies and procedures for these centers. The Public Health Service has continued to participate in and support the research programs of WHO and has played an increasingly active role in the U.S.-U.S.S.R. medical exchange program. The U.S. is participating in the first International Health Fair, currently being held in Rome, Italy. The growing complexity and importance of our international health activities have made it necessary to strengthen U.S. organizational arrangements for these various programs and thus, Burney announced the establishment of an office for international research as part of the office of the director of NIH. This unit will be responsible for central planning, co-ordination and management of the international programs of the National Institutes of Health.
VOL. 21, NO. 12, DECEMBER 1960 I PRACTICAL PHARMACY EDITION
773
he Canadian pharmaceutical industry is being subjected to a political probe on the cost and distribution of drugs . The Ontario Government Select Committee on Drugs is conducting the investigation primarily on the cost of drugs to hospitals and institutions. H.L. Rowntree is chairing the committee and has stated that the " ... investigation must of necessity go into the question of retail pharmacists ... " The committee is also delving into prescribing habits and is discussing generic vs. trademarked drugs. Horace J. Fuller, a University of Toronto professor, pointed out to the committee that he had analyzed 42,545 prescriptions and 41.3 percent had been dispensed at a loss. He also noted that only 0.4415 percent of the personal disposable income of Ontario residents was spent on prescribed medicines. Professor Fuller told the committee that the "practicability of the use of generic names is much overrated" and he based his statement on a study of a number of consecutive prescriptions being conducted to determine the feasibility of generic prescribing. Speaking on the cost of ingredients in prescriptions, Professor Fuller stated that the average cost has increased because of the change in the nature of the ingredient. The drugs prescribed
probe of Canadian pharmacy
today are just not the same drugs that were prescribed 10 or 15 years ago, he commented. Dr. Ian MacDonald, director of postgraduate studies in the school of medicine, University of Toronto, told the committee that his personal preference " ... is to order by generic name." " . . . as far as the generic names of drugs is concerned," he stated, "it is the preferable thing." However, Dr. MacDonald pointed out that he does specify the manufacturer on some drugs ". . . because on the basis of experience I have found that this particular maker makes something that is particularly reliable." Other facts brought out by witnesses before the committee were that the average Canadian spent $7.50 on prescription drugs in 1959. He spent five times as much on tobacco and eight times as much on automobile operations. And drug manufacturers realized a profit of slightly more than three cents of the retail sales dollar. Eleven of the Canadian pharmaceutical manufacturers reported total capital expenditure on research and development laboratories and equipment of $2,456,332 in 1959. The percentage of gross sales dollar allocated to research and development was 6.3 percent. The general manager of the Canadian Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Associa-
tion, S.N. Conder, told the committee that Canada offers its people one of the lowest medical care costs in the world, according to a study ' by the International Labor Organizations. He denied that 90 percent of the pharmaceutical preparations used in Canada was imported and stated that about 17 percent of the dollar value of drugs was imported in 1958, the last year for which complete figures are available. Of 28 pharmaceutical manufacturers surveyed, only six percent of their respective lines are imported, Conder explained. All of these companies also maintain their packaging operations in Canada and average 96 percent of their packaging on the premises. He also told the committee that the proper place to test and insure the quality of a drug is at its source of manufacture during the time it is being made. When the drug arrives in the hands of the doctor or patient, there should be no question whatever about the quality of the drug. Conder told the committee that the CPMA member firms would be willing to submit their products for government testing as long as they did not have to bear the cost. But, he stated, the economy of testing generic name drugs appears false because any savings that might be realized would be eaten up with testing costs. •
progress report • • • health for peace plan At a news conference on November 17, HEW Secretary Arthur S . Flemming reported that one of the most important missions of the Department of Health, Education and Welfare is to contribute t o the "health for peace plan." The funds devoted to Public Health Service activities in the international health field have increased about five-fold since 1958 and, according to Flemming-
I\..
The use of these funds will constitute 0 major contribution to human progress throughout the world, not only to health but to peaceful relations. Health is on indispensable link to worldwide understanding and goodwill. All notions wont better health for their people. Co.operation among notions-among their scientists, scholars, teachers, physicians-is the surest rood toward better health for all. like disease itself, scientific knowledge knows no geographic boundaries. All nations of the world can contribute, all can benefit. Mutual exchange, mutual aid, mutual cooperation-this is the key.
Surgeon General Leroy E. Burney noted that Public Law 86-610, the International Health Research Act of 1960, added some very significant elements to U.S. international research and training activities, not only within the Public Health Service but in other agencies of HEW as well. Under the provisions of the act, President Eisenhower was authorized to advance the international status of the health sciences through health research, planning and training in foreign countries. HEW, through the Public Health Service, was authorized to support medical research activities in foreign countries. In line with these principles, Burney notes that the National Institutes of Health proposes to use a majority of these funds to establish International Research and Training Centers. Dr. Colin McLeon, of the New York University School of Medicine, is chairman
of a special committee which will help establish policies and procedures for these centers. The Public Health Service has continued to participate in and support the research programs of WHO and has played an increasingly active role in the U.S.-U.S.S.R. medical exchange program. The U.S. is participating in the first International Health Fair, currently being held in Rome, Italy. The growing complexity and importance of our international health activities have made it necessary to strengthen U.S. organizational arrangements for these various programs and thus, Burney announced the establishment of an office for international research as part of the office of the director of NIH. This unit will be responsible for central planning, co-ordination and management of the international programs of the National Institutes of Health.
VOL. 21, NO. 12, DECEMBER 1960 I PRACTICAL PHARMACY EDITION
773