Harper Index: Pharmaceutical lobby calls shots on food and drug amendments

[tuvor]

OTTAWA, June 10, 2008: Rallies are being held across Canada to protest what the federal government's proposed Food and Drug Act amendments (Bill C-31) will do to health supplements and vitamin sales. More alarming may be what the legislation proposes regarding prescription drugs. From both sides, critics say the government has given in to the pharmaceutical industry and put the health of Canadians at risk. The bill is currently up for Second Reading.

Most of the protest is organized by the natural food industry and its consumers. Protestors say the new rules will make natural supplements and vitamins impossible for consumers to find or too expensive for small companies to process. Although the government denies that the natural supplements industry is the target of the legislation, critics say big drug companies have pushed for the changes so they can get complete control of this sector.

While this aspect of the legislation has received most media attention, other critics say the way the bill will affect the licensing of prescription drugs is far more dangerous. They say the government has caved in to drug industry pressure for less stringent testing before new drugs are put on the market. The new system is called "progressive licensing."

"The only reason (the bill) was introduced was to serve the industry," says Mike McBane of the Canadian Health Coalition. "It was written by and for Big Pharma" - a term frequently used for the multinational pharmaceutical industry.

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