Okay, very quickly then, many physicians...and I'm sure members of your association have talked about the problems with the present approval system for drugs. In fact, Dr. James Wright says, “At present, the system for reviewing and monitoring prescription drugs in Canada has serious deficiencies and often fails to consider patients as the primary focus.”
Others have reported on how drug regulations in Canada are shrouded in secrecy. Even the names of the drugs in the approval process are not disclosed. Any information that industry submits, including clinical trial data on safety and effectiveness, is deemed confidential and can only be released under access to information requests.
We have numerous problems, whether we're talking about pre- or post-approval surveillance. We have serious problems in terms of drug safety. Now, we can go into reams of information about side effects and adverse reactions. We can talk about Propulsid and the Ontario coroner's inquest. Surely you can't sit here today and say that the system, as it is, is effective.