The minister doesn't want anything to do with us,' Clark said in a text exchange with Bourassa Forcier. 'The most important thing right now is to protect ourselves. 30.Ĭlark also insisted that the minister had no intention of meeting with the board or the acting chair. 'In fact, we should be trying to respectfully communicate that what he is 'requesting' is highly problematic,' he said in an email on Nov. While the acting chair of the review board wanted to acquiesce to Duclos's request and meet with the pharmaceutical lobby group before the consultation period ended, the rest of the board and the executive director, Douglas Clark, protested.Ĭlark told Bourassa Forcier they should not engage with the minister. The letter was received with surprise by the arm's-length agency, which until that point had thought the minister was on board with its plan, and kicked off an intense 10-day-long argument that ended in the suspension of the new rules.

'I respectfully ask that the board consider pausing the consultation process, so as to work collaboratively, with all stakeholders, to understand fully the short and long-term impacts of the proposed new guidelines,' Duclos wrote.

Ten days later, Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos wrote to the acting chair and suggested the process be paused to give drug companies, patient groups, provincial ministers and himself more time to understand the changes. Innovative Medicines Canada, a pharmaceutical lobby group, requested a meeting to talk about its concerns on Nov. The emails show the conflict began last November, when the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board was in the process of consulting on the finer points of recently adopted rules that would drastically change how drug prices are set in Canada. '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. OTTAWA - A letter from the federal health minister sparked discord and division at the agency tasked with regulating the price of patented drugs in Canada, internal emails show, culminating in an indefinite pause on major drug-price reforms and several resignations.Įmails 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.

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