The widespread condemnation of drastic price increases on life-saving drugs highlights our growing dependency on and vulnerability to international pharmaceutical conglomerates. However, aren’t the interests of the public supposed to supersede the pursuit of private profit?

In his new work, Private Profits versus Public Policy, Joel Lexchin addresses this question as he examines how public policy with respect to the pharmaceutical industry has evolved in Canada over the past half century. Although the Canadian government is supposed to regulate the industry to serve the needs of public health, waves of deregulatory reforms and intellectual property rights legislation have shifted the balance of power in favour of these companies’ quest for profit. Joel Lexchin offers a series of recommendations to tip the scale back in the public’s favour. This enlightening work is the first book that deals exclusively with the pharmaceutical industry in Canada in over thirty years.

JOEL LEXCHIN is a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. He is a professor in the School of Health Policy and Management at York University and works as an emergency physician at the University Health Network.