Mr. Speaker, I appreciate my colleague's comments on Bill S-17. We have similar constituencies. Our constituencies are predominantly made up of people on modest or fixed incomes who have a hard time keeping up with the rising drug costs they are experiencing on a day to day basis.
I have one example and I wonder if my colleague could indicate whether his constituents have had similar experiences. Not long ago a woman wrote to me and indicated that the price of a heart drug, digoxin or lanoxin, had gone from $18.30 for 120 tablets in May 2000 to $30.67 for 120 tablets in August 2000.
That is an incredible jump for a drug that has been on the market a long time. In this case it appears to be the result of one pharmaceutical company being taken over by another. It illustrates the point we have been trying to make today that this is not about breakthrough drugs or about more public support for scientific discoveries. It is about brand name drug companies trying to make every penny they can off drugs that were invented a long time ago.
I have two questions for my colleague, the member for Winnipeg Centre. Is this the kind of experience he is hearing about in his own constituency? What other impact is patent protection having on the ability of ordinary citizens in our constituencies to get access to necessary medications?