The U.S. midterm elections are over and health care reform didn't get the amount of attention it deserved. So let's take a peak over the border of our neighbor to the north and see what's going on up there.
As we often write about, the U.S. is one of only two countries that allows direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising. The other, New Zealand, is considering a ban. But in Canada, the big CanWest MediaWorks media company wants to overturn the country's ban on drug ads.
Now a Canadian newswire reports that "A coalition of unions, women's and health groups have been granted intervenor status" in the case. "The groups argue that if CanWest is successful it would push up healthcare costs and undermine the sustainability of the Canadian healthcare system. CanWest is arguing that the ban on DTCA is a violation of their right to freedom of expression. In an analysis of the case, Colleen Flood and Michelle Zimmerman from the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, warn against assuming that the court won't decide in the media giant's favour. "In order for the current legislation to be upheld, courts will need to be persuaded that nothing short of the existing limits on DTCA would allow the federal government to achieve its other pressing societal concerns, such as protecting patient safety. This will be a difficult task," they wrote.
Posted by schwitz at November 8, 2006 11:15 AM | TrackBack