Canada’s high court says the big pharmacy chains will not be permitted to manufacture their own brand name generic drugs. The battle pitting Shoppers Drug Mart and Rexall against Queen’s Park has raged for years. Ontario says that the big retail chains would be able to manipulate prices in a way which, presumably, cannot be done by other makers of generics to the detriment of consumers and the province. The issue seems to have some shadings which are not entirely clear. The justices decided 7-0 so it was clear enough to them. Curiously, Ontario is the only province in Canada in which such a prohibition exists. Like everything else in Ontario, this issue is linked back to the province’s enormous debt and the erratic effort to somehow control it. The most informative story is by Reuters
