The Harper Government has given itself it’s own report card. Last week they released their 2013 legislative accomplishments. They seem to be proud that a record 40 bills have reached royal accent calling it the “most productive year on record”. Think of it a different way… 40 of your freedoms were taken away this year. Government gets bigger and it’s touted as an accomplishment? I find this very disturbing… and so should you. I thought conservative political parties were supposed to reduce the size of government. That’s another topic for another day, and I have lots to say on that subject for sure.
Among their ‘accomplishments’ are laws that protect Canadians from unsafe drugs. Many people see this as a good thing. And it CAN be for sure. However, rarely is it thought of the other way: What about lives that are lost because drugs which could be beneficial, are kept off the market? How will you ever see the lives lost because of that? Many years later when the drug IS approved, the only people who might object to that will be dead. But they may still be alive if they had access to that drug.
For years, Beta Blockers were kept off the market for fear that they would be deadly. Upon approval, it was mentioned that this drug would save up to 10,000 lives a year. Since it took 10 years to approve, does this mean the Government killed 100,000 people? It’s in health Canada’s best interest to always be late on approval; they are not going to want the bad publicity from potentially killing thousands of people.
But it’s also in a drug company’s best interest to make sure the drugs they are putting on the market are safe. If a drug turns out to be unsafe, then that drug company deserves anything that comes it’s way… bankruptcy, class action lawsuits whatever. In a free and open market, potential for bad publicity keeps people honest. A free and unregulated market can police itself if given the chance.
Who died and put Health Canada in charge?