The pharmaceutical company Mylan has been making headlines this week for hiking U.S. prices for EpiPens by 500 per cent. In 2007, two EpiPens cost about $100. Today, the same set costs $600. As concerns about the price hikes mount, the public outcry has caused Mylan to promise a generic EpiPen that it will sell for $300 for a set of two.
The Canadian health-care system, in which one EpiPen costs $100, seems idyllic by comparison. But while the U.S. situation has shed favourable light on Canada’s drug system, calls for a universal drug program continue.
Read: Canadians divided on benefits of a universal drug program: report
A recent report from the Canadian Medical Association found significant support for a universal drug program. Half of the respondents felt the main advantage would be lower drug prices, while the other half thought the major benefit would be extended coverage.
What do you think? Do the advantages of universal drug coverage outweigh the costs? Or does the EpiPen issue show Canada’s drug system works fine? Have your say in our weekly poll.
Read: Universal drug plan could cut spending by $7.3 billion: analysis
As for last week’s survey, which asked whether the government should have returned the age eligibility for old-age security to 65, a third (33 per cent) agreed with the decision, finding the added costs affordable, while two-thirds (67 per cent) disagreed, saying Canada has put itself out of step with other countries that are raising their retirement ages.
