Annual Report on the Administration of the Access to Information Act 2019-2020

Patented Medicine Prices Review Board
Annual Report on the Administration of the Access to Information Act
April 1, 2019 to March 31, 202020

Copy of the Report can be obtained from and enquiries can be directed to the Director, the Board Secretariat, Communications and Strategic Planning at:

Patented Medicine Prices Review Board
Standard Life Centre
Box L40
333 Laurier Avenue West, Suite 1400 Ottawa, Ontario - K1P 1C1
Tel: (613) 288-9635
E-mail: PMPRB.ATIP-AIPRB.CEPMB@pmprb-cepmb.gc.ca

Introduction

The Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB, Board) became subject to the Access to Information Act (ATIA) on June 14, 1990. Pursuant to sections 87 and 88 of the Patent Act and the Patented Medicines Regulations, certain information filed by patentees is privileged and may not be made public except in the course of a public hearing before the Board. This information is also exempt from disclosure under section 24 of the ATIA.

The purpose of the ATIA is to extend the present laws of Canada to provide a right of access to information in records under the control of a government institution in accordance with the principles that government information should be available to the public, that necessary exceptions to the right of access should be limited and specific and that decisions on the disclosure of government information should be reviewed independently of government.

Pursuant to section 72 of the ATIA, this document contains the Annual Report to Parliament on the administration of the ATIA for 2019-2020 by the PMPRB as submitted to the Minister of Health.

About PMPRB and Mandate

The PMPRB is an independent quasi-judicial body established by Parliament in 1987 under the Patent Act (Act). The Minister of Health is responsible for the pharmaceutical provisions of the Act as set out in sections 79 to 103. Although part of the Health Portfolio, the PMPRB carries out its mandate at arm’s length from the Minister of Health. It also operates independently of other bodies such as Health Canada, which approves drugs for safety and efficacy; federal, provincial, and territorial public drug plans, which have responsibility for approving the listing of drugs on their respective formularies and determining price levels for the purpose of reimbursement; and the Common Drug Review, which provides listing recommendations based on cost-effectiveness to participating public drug plans.

The PMPRB has a dual role: regulatory and reporting. The mandate of the PMPRB is to ensure that prices at which patentees sell their patented medicines in Canada to hospitals, wholesalers and pharmacies are not excessive; and, to report on pharmaceutical trends of all medicines and on research and development spending by patentees.

Delegation of Authority

The Chairperson of the Board has delegated the responsibilities associated with the administration of the ATIA to the Director, Board Secretariat, Communications and Strategic Planning (BSCSP). As a result, Access to Information and Privacy requests are part of the BSCSP and operational responsibility for the application of the Act has been delegated to Riaz Awadia, A/Director, BSCSP, to act as the Access to Information Coordinator (Coordinator). Please refer to Annex A for the signed Delegation Order.

Organizational Structure

The PMPRB is a small organization of around 79 FTEs. Given that the PMPRB receives few Access to Information (ATI) requests, all requests are received and processed by the Coordinator.

The Coordinator reports to the Chairperson of the Board on the disposition of the requests. The Secretariat is responsible for consultations with applicants, other government institutions, third parties and the Office of the Information Commissioner.

A processing structure for the receipt, review and retrieval of requests is established to ensure that incoming requests are registered with the Coordinator, distributed to the appropriate Branch for action and receipt is acknowledged to the applicant. The documents relevant to the request are retrieved by the Branch and forwarded on to the Coordinator who reviews and processes the information for disposition within the prescribed timeframe.

The Coordinator liaises and coordinates with the Treasury Board Secretariat (TBS), the Office of the Information Commissioner, and any other government department or agency, and is also responsible for developing the corporate policies and practices related to access to information.

Statistical Report

The PMPRB received 27 new access to information requests under the ATIA between April 1, 2019 and March 31, 2020.

Annex B provides the statistical report on Access to Information processed by the PMPRB between April 1, 2019 and March 31, 2020.

The Board also provides a controlled-access reading room at its offices where files related to ATIA can be examined.

Informal Requests

The PMPRB regularly receives informal requests for information and responds to them  in accordance with the spirit of the ATIA. The PMPRB responds to informal public inquiries through its BSCSP Branch either via telephone, mail or email. A request is considered to be "formal" if it is presented to the Coordinator in writing, refers to the ATIA and provides sufficient information to identify the records.

Interpretation of Statistical Report

Over the past ten (10) years, the number of new access to information requests filed with the PMPRB has widely varied. The PMPRB received 27 new requests in 2019- 2020.

Under its regulatory mandate, the PMPRB reviews the prices at which the patentees sell their patented medicines in Canada to ensure that they are not excessive. Retail prices are outside the purview of the PMPRB. Therefore, the PMPRB’s core mandate requires that it deals directly with patentees rather than with the general public. This may explain the limited number of ATI requests submitted to the PMPRB from the public.

The PMPRB has a statutory obligation to protect pricing information as filed by patentees. Pursuant to sections 87 and 88 of the Patent Act and the Patented Medicines Regulations, certain information filed by patentees is privileged and may not be made public except in the course of a public hearing before the Board. This information is also exempt from disclosure under section 24 of the ATIA.

Summaries of these completed ATI requests are posted on the PMPRB website at www.pmprb-cepmb.gc.ca, under Access to Information and Privacy.

The PMPRB is committed to ensuring transparency and as such endeavours to publish all publicly available information on its website.

Responses to requests processed

27 new requests were received in 2019-2020

Exemptions and Exclusions and Completion time

Exemptions were applied to six requests. Twenty-four (24) requests received were addressed within 30 days of the reception, two requests were addressed between 31 to 120 days, one requests was addressed between 121 to 365 days and we have one ongoing request pending.

Fees & Costs

During the reporting period, $5 was collected. During 2019-2020, the PMPRB incurred an estimated $80,000 in salary, resources expended by the BSCSP and Corporate Services to meet the requirements of the ATIA.

Access-related Training and Education

For the reporting period, the PMPRB participated in two Access to Information and Privacy courses and implemented a new software to track, review and process all ATIP requests.

Access to Information Complaints or Investigations

Throughout the reporting period of FY 2019-2020, the PMPRB received two complaints with regards to access to information and is subject of one investigation from the Office of the Information Commissioner.

Appeals

Throughout the reporting period of FY 2019-2020, no applications/appeals were filed with the Federal Court or the Federal Court of Appeal.

Delegation Order

Pursuant to Section 95(1) of the Access to Information Act (ATIA), R.S.C.C. A-1 and Section 73(1) of the Privacy Act, R.S.C., 1985, c. P-21, as amended

I, Dr. Mitchell Levine, Chairperson of the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board, a government institution as listed in Schedule 1 (Section 3) of the Act, do hereby authorize Devon Menard, Director, Corporate Services, of the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board to exercise, perform and to carry out the duties, functions and powers of the Access to Information and Privacy Coordinator, as pursuant to Section 95(1) of the ATIA and Section 73(1) of the Privacy Act.

Dated in OTTAWA, on the Province of Ontario, this July 29, 2020.

Dr. Mitchell Levine
Chairperson of the Board
Patented Medicine Prices Review Board