Fair Pricing | Pets Drug Mart Canada

Fair Pricing
by PetsDrugMart

Demand Fairness in Pet Medication Pricing
by PetsDrugMart.ca

The fight is not over! The College of Veterinarians and the Ontario Government are ignoring recommendations from the Canadian Competition Bureau that protect consumers and ensure transparency and fair pet medication pricing for consumers.
#ImproveBill171!

Bill 171, The Enhancing Professional Care for Animals Act, is a new bill that was fast-tracked, passed, and received royal assent on June 6th despite requests for revisions from our federal Competition Bureau and the public.

In Chris Hannay's Globe & Mail article on June 4, Sam McCormick, a spokesperson for Minister Lisa M. Thompson of OMAFRA, says vets must provide a prescription that can be taken elsewhere but only if the consumer asks for it.

The problem is most pet owners won't know to ask!

Veterinary markups have always been much higher than options like a dedicated pet prescription site or a traditional pharmacy. Veterinary monopolies over high prices will continue if consumers are not provided a prescription every time a vet is dispensing drugs!

Bill 171 has been made law. It is a half-baked bill designed to protect veterinary revenue streams. It provides no automatic dispensing transparency that would protect consumers, as recommended by the Competition Bureau.

We urge you to use your voice to ensure regulations are rapidly added to address the following issues: Bill 171 should include automatic prescription portability to ensure fair pricing & competition, and should remove veterinary regulators' oversight and control of adjacent pet-practitioners, including pharmacists. Veterinarians should not need to oversee the filling of prescriptions by legally licensed pharmacists, who are experts in dispensing prescriptions to the letter. The prescription itself already mandates exactly what a pharmacist needs to do - so what benefit is there in additional control?

Learn more below, or ACT NOW

Why do we need to act NOW?

We must urgently add regulations to Bill 171 NOW to protect consumers from monopolistic high drug prices.

Bill 171 has received Royal Assent and is currently in effect. It could take months or even years for any regulations/amendments to be put into place, if they are at all. Prescription transparency and portability need to be enshrined in legislation now to provide much needed transparency for consumers.

Let's work together to make these changes happen. If you’d like to take a closer look at Bill 171, you can read it here.

ACT NOW

How can I help?

To make it easy, we have prepared an email for you below. You can use the form to send an email to the Standing Committee of the Interior and Hon. Lisa M. Thompson, Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs.

We have also prepared a Change.org Petition which you can sign and share easily.

And please, share the link to this page widely!

How You Can Help:

CONTACT:
Let your MPP know you'd like fair prices!