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[email protected] Ranch Market on the Trans Canada Hwy Associate Broker Page 11 Drug wars SHARON MCLEAY Times Contributor We are used to hearing about drug wars involv- ing illegal street drugs, but there is a war brewing over the Alberta government cuts made to legally Celebrating dispensed drugs by pharmacies. Pharmacists are St. Paddy’s Day saying the cuts will seriously affect the way they do business and will adversely affect client care. “They are sacrificing patient care. They are try- ing to look like they are saving money, but in Page 17 the long run they are sacrificing patient care. Es- pecially in rural areas, where in some cases, the pharmacy is your health care centre,” said Gord Morck, owner of Strathmore Value Drug Mart. An Alberta government review in 2008 deter- mined that generic drugs should be substituted for higher priced manufacturer brand name drugs to save money. They also determined that pharma- cists could charge 35 per cent over and above the manufacturer price to cover their staffing, busi- Spartans host ness, operations costs. The government then be- Provincials gan a yearly decrease on that percentage, leading to the present 18 per cent cost cut. Brand name drugs have no cost restrictions placed on them. “What they are doing is price controls. Some- Page 17 thing that I buy on April 29 that I pay $100 for; on May 1, I will have to sell for $50.