There are, in all plans, even on the plans that specify they will only.... They're usually not called generic plans; they're called low-cost alternative plans. They will only pay for the low-cost alternative medicine. All of those plans have the ability for prescribers—doctors—to fill out and indicate adverse drug reactions. If their patient, for whatever reason, is not reacting well, they can indicate that. Most plans, if it's a recognized acceptable reason, will pay for a different medicine. That takes care of that.
In terms of the placebo effect, yes, that does occur sometimes. In the marketplace there are what are called “ultra-generics”, identical to the brand-name product, made from the same plant and sold as a generic, and the patient comes in and says it doesn't work as well. It's the same product; it's just stamped differently. If people believe it may not work as well, sometimes there's a concern.
As I said, I think that in terms of education we, the federal government, and Health Canada have a tremendous amount of material in terms of the way generics are approved. Again, 7 out of 10 prescriptions are filled with generics. Almost two million prescriptions a day are filled with generics in Canada. They do work well. Again, if there's a problem, then there is a system in place to allow a patient to switch to a different product.