I would like to answer that question.
I provided my opinion to the Government of Quebec, which put in place a bidding system for manufacturers of generic drugs. I should point out that this is where there are the most shortages.
It's true that some people feel that if prices are lowered, there would be more shortages. You need to be careful with that kind of statement. When it comes to generic drugs, how the supply system is organized is important. For example, if you launch a call for tenders for generic drugs and provide specific provisions to ensure the safety of the supply, that will help reduce costs while improving the safety of the supply. That's the case in Sweden and New Zealand. The cost of generics is a third of what we pay in Canada. Despite that, there are far fewer drug shortages there.
As for drug access, people think that if you pay more for a drug, it will be easier to access. That isn't the case at all. Standards are used, such as that of quality-adjusted life years.
Let me give you an example.
A government agrees to pay $50,000 for a drug because of the quality-adjusted life years. The manufacturer of a new drug decides to make the rate $100,000 instead. If the government in question agrees to pay that amount, every company will then ask $100,000. Indeed, agreeing to pay more won't solve the access problem. It will only push back the problem, which will come up again later.
If you continue to accept the increases, you'll only encourage people like Martin Shkreli, who is selling a drug for 50 times more than he should because he says that people are crazy enough to pay it. So that creates more problems with drug access and shortages. The large pharmaceutical company Valeant pretty much follows the same business model. These are predatory dynamics in the system in Canada, and we have no protection against it.