Internal emails from the agency tasked with regulating the price of patented drugs in Canada shows discord and division was sparked by a letter from the health minister, culminating in an indefinite pause on major drug-price reforms and several resignations.
Emails released to the House of Commons committee on health suggest some on the regulator’s board believed the crisis that followed the minister’s letter threatened the very survival of the agency.
“We are experiencing a significant conflict that must be resolved to ensure the survival, integrity and proposer conduct of business for the (Patented Medicine Prices Review Board),” former acting chair Melanie Bourassa Forcier wrote to the board members on Dec. 4, 2022….