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I'm going to assume this has something to do with generic drugs?

I doubt it, Canada has relatively high prices for generic drugs.

In most cases, the USA has far more companies competing for generic drugs, and you have many companies (Walmart, Target, Walgreens, etc.) selling common generics for $4.

Yes, $4 is the total cost.

You won't find a pharmacy in Ontario where the pharmacy's dispensing fee (let alone the cost of the medication) is less than $4.

I guess drug companies in the US are more concerned about making a buck than actually helping people.

You are mixing up pharmacies with drug companies (although they are sometimes related).

Canada has a Patented Medicine Prices Review Board ( http://www.pmprb-cepmb.gc.ca/a... ) which regulates the price of medications for which there are no generic equivalents. These drugs are often much cheaper in Canada than the USA. Generics are often cheaper in the USA though.

There have been a number of scandals in Canada where drug companies have been caught paying "professional allowances" (ie, bribes) to pharmacies to carry their product and not the competition.

In Canada, most essential drugs have a generic or no-name equivalent which is often cheaper than the brand name drug and works just as well.

That is the case in most countries, including the USA.

I bet Canada will soon be paying market prices for its drugs. These contracts don't last forever.

It's not contracts; it's the law:

The Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB) is an independent quasi-judicial body established by Parliament in 1987 under the Patent Act (Act).

The PMPRB protects the interests of Canadian consumers by ensuring that the prices of patented medicines sold in Canada are not excessive. It does this by reviewing the prices that patentees charge for each individual patented drug product in Canadian markets. If a price is found to be excessive, the Board can hold public hearings and order price reductions and/or the offset of excess revenues. The PMPRB regulates the “factory gate” prices and does not have jurisdiction over prices charged by wholesalers or pharmacies, or over pharmacists professional fees.

The following factors are used to determine if a drug is excessively priced:

• the prices at which the medicine has been sold in the relevant market
• the prices at which other medicines in the same therapeutic class have been sold in the relevant market
• the prices at which the medicine and other medicines in the same therapeutic class have been sold in countries other than Canada
• changes in the Consumer Price Index
• any other factors that may be set out in regulations

And it's not special to Canada: pretty much all wealthy countries have some form of price control on patented drugs.

I bet Canada will soon be paying market prices for its drugs. These contracts don't last forever.

It's not contracts; it's the law:

The Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB) is an independent quasi-judicial body established by Parliament in 1987 under the Patent Act (Act).

The PMPRB protects the interests of Canadian consumers by ensuring that the prices of patented medicines sold in Canada are not excessive. It does this by reviewing the prices that patentees charge for each individual patented drug product in Canadian markets. If a price is found to be excessive, the Board can hold public hearings and order price reductions and/or the offset of excess revenues. The PMPRB regulates the “factory gate” prices and does not have jurisdiction over prices charged by wholesalers or pharmacies, or over pharmacists professional fees.

The following factors are used to determine if a drug is excessively priced:

• the prices at which the medicine has been sold in the relevant market
• the prices at which other medicines in the same therapeutic class have been sold in the relevant market
• the prices at which the medicine and other medicines in the same therapeutic class have been sold in countries other than Canada
• changes in the Consumer Price Index
• any other factors that may be set out in regulations

And it's not special to Canada: pretty much all wealthy countries have some form of price control on patented drugs.

Drugs are not sold by hospitals. Drugs in hospitals are free. For prescriptions, people buy their drugs from a pharmacist. The province isn't the one purchasing those. Pricing has nothing to do with the province.

In fact, prices in Canada are controlled by a federal Government entity, the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board:

http://www.pmprb-cepmb.gc.ca/

They set pricing limits. This has nothing to do with "huge bulk orders".

What the bloody hell is it with you yanks(Only yanks would argue because they have the highest prices in the world!) and your disdain for collective bargining agreements?

Seriously. These aren't sports cars, they're drugs many people need to continue living. Drugs which don't fall under this category, such as Prozac and Viagra, cost more in Canada than they do in the US.

Look at this page. When allergy medication and breast cancer treatments are being sold for 1/3 the price here than in the states, and the drug companies are still making a profit(they wouldn't sell here otherwise), you're being ripped off in the worst way -- with a gun to your head. Pay or die.

This page is very interesting as well, because it outlines the criteria the PMPRB uses to set the price of patented prescripted drugs. Breakthrough drug prices are limited to the median of the prices for the same drugs charged in other specified industrialized countries that are set out in the Patented Medicines Regulations (France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, U.K. and the U.S.). This is hardly the Wal-mart model of bleeding everyone else dry.

Frankly, this is a stupid discussion. You guys seem to have forgotten that capitalism is a two way street -- Just like labour unions formed because companies abused individually powerless workers during the industrial revolution, collective bargining of some sort has to be utilized (ESPECIALLY since these companies are the only supplier because of patents and our government generally keeps it's fingers out of that pie, sending aids medicine to africa excepted) to keep drug companies from charging whatever they want for things people need to stay alive. You guys can keep getting extorted if you want, but don't argue that we're wrong for wanting affordable drugs and are willing to use force to achieve those ends.

There is no negotiation between the Canadian government and the US pharmaceutical industry.

This myth needs to die.

The Canadian government decides what the maximum is they will pay for a given drug (which is not ALWAYS lower than the cost in the US, by the way) and the US pharmcos have to sell at that price (or lower, but we all know that won't happen...) or not sell at all. That's hardly "negotiation" in any meaningful sense of the word.

http://www.pmprb-cepmb.gc.ca/english/home.asp?x=1

You can see from their FAQ:

Created in 1987 under the Patent Act as an independent quasi-judicial tribunal, the PMPRB limits the prices set by manufacturers for all patented medicines, new and existing, sold in Canada, under prescription or over the counter, to ensure they are not excessive.

and

In Canada, the prices of patented medicines only are subject to direct price controls through the PMPRB.

To determine if the price of a patented drug sold in Canada is excessive, the PMPRB applies factors set out in the Patent Act and in its price guidelines.

There is no negotiation between the Canadian government and the US pharmaceutical industry.

This myth needs to die.

The Canadian government decides what the maximum is they will pay for a given drug (which is not ALWAYS lower than the cost in the US, by the way) and the US pharmcos have to sell at that price (or lower, but we all know that won't happen...) or not sell at all. That's hardly "negotiation" in any meaningful sense of the word.

http://www.pmprb-cepmb.gc.ca/english/home.asp?x=1

You can see from their FAQ:

Created in 1987 under the Patent Act as an independent quasi-judicial tribunal, the PMPRB limits the prices set by manufacturers for all patented medicines, new and existing, sold in Canada, under prescription or over the counter, to ensure they are not excessive.

and

In Canada, the prices of patented medicines only are subject to direct price controls through the PMPRB.

To determine if the price of a patented drug sold in Canada is excessive, the PMPRB applies factors set out in the Patent Act and in its price guidelines.