My questions are for Professor McCabe.
In the previous panel, we heard from Cystic Fibrosis Canada, a group that has strongly advocated for us to drop the proposed changes to the PMPRB. Let me ask the same question I asked somebody on the previous panel. Are some drug companies, in your opinion, using patient advocacy groups to further their own financial interests? Are at least some drug companies, by refusing to apply for Health Canada approval—as Vertex was doing for some period of time—not holding sick Canadians hostage to their demands? Certainly, part of their demands is that they don't like the changes to the PMPRB. That's one question.
I'd like to pose my second question now in case your answer to the first one is overly lengthy. What can we do when companies refuse to ask for Health Canada authorization of life-saving drugs? What can we do in the example that Ms. Little gave? A drug is no longer under patent; however, the drug company is asking for really excessive prices.
I would suggest that in TRIPS, the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights, there is a realization that intellectual property rights shouldn't trump all other human values. As a result, within the TRIPS WTO agreement, there are the TRIPS flexibilities. One of the TRIPS flexibilities is compulsory licensing, which allows the government to give a licence to a non-patent holder. They do have to compensate the patent holder. In your opinion, when we're getting predatory behaviour by some drug companies that would seem to be holding Canadians hostage, should we not reconsider reinstituting legislation that would allow us to do compulsory licensing?
Thanks, Professor.