Someone should either hire him as an investigator or start a go fund me account to help him out a little because I HATE SEEING DECENT PEOPLE RUINED FOR DOING THE RIGHT THINGS!

As Hanna and Varga are still working for Costco as of the time this documentary was published, it shows that the company executive staff are just as unethical as the rest.

The government needs to hire this guy. He isn't afraid to challenge the big guys in order to uphold the law.

The fact that this man is not being hired by many other corporations tells you , they don't want someone as honest as he is because they are scamming the public as well , and he wouldn't fit in because he is honest . Shame ........

I sincerely hope that he finds a job after doing the right thing and whistle blowing. We really need more people like him in this world.

He's a brave man. Corruption thrives universally, because good men keep quiet.

God Bless this Man Who Blew the whistle on the "Corpirates!" The price he paid was his Job! A sacrifice for People who need medicine! Greed is horrible! God Bless Us All!!

Getting rich on the backs of ill or dying persons IS obscene. I'm in the USA and we can't even begin to get our Congress off its collective duff to take care of the same problem. Shameful!!!

Here in the US our government lets the pharmaceutical companies pay off our government right in our face!

This will give me a different view of COSTCO. I guess good guys just don't exist anymore.

Fines need to be 40 % of their total Rx sales...And loss of the license for 2 years...Charges should be faced in courts and not a hearing with the Pharmacy Board...Canada also needs a Whistleblower Law to protect those that disclose illegal activities..

We own a traditional family pharmacy, we charge as close to our cost as possible and all our patients speak directly to the pharmacist. We never have and never will get kick backs at our level. No such thing as generic kick backs at a small family store. It is the large banner stores that call themselves pharmacies that destroy the profession. It should be like Australia where you have to be a pharmacist to open a pharmacy.

It seems to me that the government should hire this man as an investigator.

“Hand in the till”, no sir, more like extortion.

This man is a hero

Disgusting greed indeed.

Thank you Toni, Amir & The Fifth Estate.. Just find The Fifth Estate informative. Great investigators.

And the system keeps going, unchanged. Companies make their money, politicians please their lobbyists and patients suffer in silence. What a time to be alive.

If not for the good journalism, The Fifth Estate, many of the Canadians would be in worse situation than they should be. Good journalism brings out the hidden truth, unfortunately, the government do not always act fast and in many cases, do something about the wrong doings at all.

This man, Galiesi, is a real hero. It may be that Costco is not the only one doing this, but it doesn't make it better. Someone give Galiesi a job. We need more people like him.

Wow, I'm a Costco member in America, this is distressing, although I don't get prescription medication from them, I still don't like supporting a company that participates in illegal activity anywhere.

The government isn't the answer. Their kickback is 50 percent.

They are all corrupt.

"That pie sure is tasty." Who knew Proof was in the pie not the pudding? Thank you for another Excellent awareness story CBC.

I once filled my prescription at Costco. The pharmacist was so stern that I got actually scared. Never again.

He is the hero. Wish him all the best!

My mom has cancer and her medication was 6500 a month. She only had social security. She had to choose living expenses over living. We did everything to try to help. But I couldn’t afford it either. I gave up my place to live with her to help and cut costs but the extreme expense was definitely a downer.

Costco does this with everyone

I went to Shoppers Drug Mart and Real Canadian Superstore for the same prescription a couple years ago. I found out that Shoppers charged me double the price than what Superstore charged me. Never shopping at Shoppers Drug Mart ever again.

Costco..I am truly disappointed in your conduct!!!😡😡😡

Mr. Galieise your an Amazing Awesome Loving Caring Man. God Bless You! Thank You !

I need $1800 a month in medications to live comfortably... on a $1200 a month disability income.

The pharmaceutical industry is one of the most corrupt industries there is! We are fortunate in New Zealand that most of these medications are fully funded. No of course it’s not ‘free’ because we pay for it in our taxes even if we personally don’t use them.. but I’d rather pay more tax and know that people are getting the medications they need to live.

The consumer should in turn demand a 60% rebate from Costco.

I WILL NOT SHOP COSTCO THEY ARE CROOKS

Everything COST Co does is a scam.

Canada doesn't have whistle blower protection program?

My doctor, an orthopedic surgeon, in 1991 told me drug companies pay for his yearly 3-week trip from USA to India , all expenses paid.

The kickback system is prevalent in all Canadian retail. Suppliers "pay for shelf space", are required to buy "end-aisle displays", "listing fees." This is part of the reason consumer goods are so high in Canada. As the article says,"these are illegal fees in Ontario. Yet do the government agencies responsible for enforcing the law do anything?

In Los Angeles, I thought it would be cheaper to get it at Costco. Turns out they cost more and my meds were less at the local drugstore. Don't go to Costco for your meds.

This is happening every place NOT just Canada

I find it amazing that the pharmaceutical company's are not held accountable for any criminal actions while at the same time people serve jail sentences for selling drugs. What is the difference because in the end both are doing something "illegal".

This was truly shocking

God bless Galiesi

Hey...millionaires need to upkeep their yachts.

This is one reason I only shop at COSTCO just for a bag of bagel once a month, that's it, nothing more - nothing less.

Amir you rock ! This is the same story all over the world!

Costco...nvr go there

Nothing against you being educated - but it doesn't take a highly educated person to understand the kickbacks/rebates. My question is who is suppose to oversee these companies and protect the citizens? Maybe they should give their wages to the gentleman who is getting all this information and doing all the leg work to bring this into the light. I applaud him and he should get some kind of kickback/rebate from the people that are suppose to police this, so this kind of stealing is NOT done.

That Hanna by still works at Costco! Unbelievable.

A man that does the right thing for consumer gets screwed by Costco. What a crazy modern day shakedown.

without accountability, corruption

In the music this was called "Payola", and considered a federal crime. Unreal that this was debated by their Rx regulators

I bet an LP Cannabis would appreciate his sales knowledge/history and honesty. Best wishes to this astute man

I worked for a pharmacy management business. ALL our money came from our pharmacies that each averaged $1 million US a month in profits. That was with a 90% discount to the consumer. That's how inflated the prices are - you can make a million in profit every month even with a 90% discount to your customers. Or you can make them pay regular prices and keep the difference for yourself like the fortune 500 pharmacy companies do. ALL pharmacies run on rebates from the wholesalers. The wholesalers will pay the pharmacy 1 or 2 or 3 cents per pill sold. Same goes with opiates - 1 or 2 or 3 cents per pill goes to the pharmacy. Now do you see why there is an opiod epidemic in the US? That's why pharma companies wine and dine doctors with high opiod prescription rates - gotta keep your dealers happy and keep the pipeline flowing.

My God. I am a member since 1992. I have seen other levels of Gov't and their non-existent penalties for almost criminal behaviour. If you want to know why people do not have confidence in Gov't, this is the place to start. And now Doug Ford is getting rid of regulations and watch dogs. NOT a good thing. 24Oct18.

Canadian Govt is filled with spineless politicians. Can't at least one of them stand up and shout ...'this is not right"?, then do something about it.

This reminds me of the Ontario Car Insurance investigations ( Sham) . Same subject , just different style of clothes .

It is not just Costco it is all drug stores in Canada.

Tony you are a hero !You sir will always have my respect ! I pray that God will bless you financially, and bless your home life for your honesty!! This country is corrupt ,

I’m so furious I can’t even think of a comment!!!

I was just at Costco this week and I was shocked at the huge line that wrapped around the store aisle for the pharmacy.

We all have to sign petitions to stop this outright corruption!!!

WTF? I've always heard drugs were cheaper in Canada, I'm in the states, so are drugs now more expensive in Canada? What gives?

Great story

I'm long past simply not filling some prescriptions, I've had to put the house up for sale. Even minor pain medications increased in cost more than 60 percent in the last few months. Scientific American once evaluated costs to manufacture many common drugs and indicated many generic prescriptions are made for mere pennies, or dramatically less. Some mark-ups exceeded 100,000 percent. The bottles and the labels cost hundreds of times more than the contents. Yet I cannot work, and I'm losing my house... and while I may be older I do not comprehend how manipulation, extortion and bribery builds a robust economy, or even doesn't bleed an economy of any vigour it might otherwise have. Politicians and people need to understand that a highschool drop-out digging a ditch with a shovel builds the economy more than the Costco accused do here. Simply buying something for a dollar and selling it for two isn't economic growth, domestically it's just inflation! Any government that gives latitude to such practices is corrupt, or cowardly, or both. Stupid is likely tacit.

The government needs to prosecute. This is ridiculous.

The more i watch these programs from canadian tv the more i realize that canada is just like the u.s. It's very disappointing.

Today, I went to get some gas at Costoc and I have under $100 in my chequing account. I didn't know that your debit card would be rejected if you have under $100 in your account and you are stuck not being able to buy gas. The staff know this, don't explain and put blame on you for not having money in your account, but I know how much money is in the account. I hate Costco and the way they operate their business. I will never be polite to their staff ever again.

The Canadian and American governments should hire this man!

This has been common in the US for years Rebates, Ad fee, discounts, shelf fees to get better shelf positioning for OTC stuff. Most people have no clue what is behind healthcare prices. Its isnt just the Pharmaceutical companies fault. I paid $32,000 for 2.5 days in hospital, the guy in the room next to me was there at no cost---So I paid for him. One time I was in for two days and a foreigner, in the next bed was there for 8 days---at no cost.

Prescription Drugs has problem. In Quebec, the health care have the problem too, if somebody is sick and goes to the walk-in clinic, they will see the door of the clinic stick a message saying today space are full, so sick people have to go to the hospital to wait a day for the care, and if it is not a serious sickness, then next day five o'clock in the morning they have to go line up at the door and get the space of that day. it is going to be a crisis in quebec.

Even allowing pharmaceuticals to decide where research dollars should go and perform all the testing on their own products is foolish enough. They should be required to invest in a research pool that are allocated by a board of scientists and economists, the testing should be a regulatory body insulated from the corporate lobbyists, the developed products can be licensed to private companies for a period of time with the requirement that the quantity produced meet statistically assessed need not priced to optimize profit and failing being leased or leases having expired be produced by generic companies and even government operated plants to ensure the required quantities are needed. We have a long way to go before we have a reasonable healthcare, even generic metformin is three times the price in Canada versus other countries with socialized healthcare, comparing the Canadian system with the US system does not mean Canada is where it should be. We have a lot to do in Canada and we can begin with pharmacare as soon as possible. Having lived in the US, the American system is truly atrocious and unconscionable. The insurance companies hire high school dropouts as teleoperators, give them a few weeks of training and then reward them for denying treatments and medications to claimants and penalize them for granting treatments and medications ( somewhat like what Canadian telecom companies do). The US insurance companies pay about 20% of the fees that Doctors submit, the phone number they give the doctors to complain takes hours to be answered, they give companies a we'll served number for companies who provide their employees with health insurance and the employees receiving health insurance get a number to allegedly a registered nurse whose job is to discourage you from seeking medical assistance. Your family doctor is penalized for referring you to a specialist though quite frankly there's not much left of the $20 the insurance company pays on the $100 visit fee. The US has become a system where doctors and hospitals are pitted against each other in defrauding each other as much as possible. I had an MRA scan done once which due to the annual deductible limit was not to be covered by my insurance company, the hospital agreed to allow me to pay for it in cash at the rate negotiated by the insurance company, they then filed it with the insurance company which was rejected so they called me to say I had only paid for a third of the fee to which I reminded them that they had agreed to let me pay the insurance negotiated rate in cash which I did, they said they would check up on it then called me back that I didn't owe anything and then I received mail from the insurance company saying hat the first invoice that was rejected had been paid as I had by then exceeded the annual deductible then later I received another letter saying that an MRA had been paid as the hospital had submitted a second invoice after trying to get me to pay the whole bill. Turns out the hospital hires hundreds of people to maximize their take from the insurance companies just as the insurance company hires people to deny you of services. Oh, four days of hospital in Houston in 2003 costs about $30,000 which is $6,000 after the insurance pays then $3,000 after you negotiate with the hospital. If you have insurance, they hook you up to oxygen regardless of whether you need it or not just to have an extra billable and they would ask you if you have insurance about five times in the ER. Also, the ER is almost impossible to find as the hospital's financially responsible to serve anyone that enters the ER until they are discharged and escorted out of the hospital. To top that, the ER is filled with obviously poor mother's without insurance and their children with colds. It's no wonder that the Doctor's without Borders organization class the US as a third world country in terms of medical care.

So frightening and appalling that those people who try to stem the corruption that goes on on so many levels of government in the world ultimately risk everything including their lives in some cases.

Obviously the penalties by the college need to be changed. There needs to be a thorough investigation, not only into Costco but into any large company offering pharma going above the figure permitted.

BOYCOTT COSTCO pharmacy.If not,then the consumer is to blame.

So, let me get this straight....... the consumer would get cheaper drugs.

I had a prescription that I bought at Costco for 18 dollars for 2 years, than one day I went in and they said it was 168 dollars , I said wrong drug or patient I pay eighteen and he said that was last month, there was a price increase.

I’ve never shopped at a Costco and never will if Costco even cleans it’s act up. If you want to bring them to their knees don’t shop there. It would take about 6 months and most likely they will be in bankruptcy. Can’t believe this hasn’t already been done.

Shareholders like you should write the drug companies - that's the only way. Retired lawyer. These companies are owned by the public in the 401Ks etc.

Me. Goes into bank. GIVE ME ALL YOUR SUPPORT! 100%!!!

Good to see a good man doing what he thought was right. Costco drug cost in the lowest in Canada. Image what other companies get if their drug is more expensive.

What a scam.

What is the actual cost of generic drugs. Pennies on the dollars.

Remember folks even still meds are cheaper in Canada then in the states.

Power corrupts.. absolute power corrupts absolutely.....if you add greed$$ to that you know where they come from. GODSPEED to all those that got smarter with this video. thanks for posting.

The solution is ez Costco should stop selling drugs and supporting Canadian health care. Canadians can go without those drugs.

This seems like something that would happen down here in the US.

Wonder how many other products they do the same thing with., like toilet paper, food products, etc.

Another great eye-oppener and service to the democracy and to people of Canada. Can we do anything as society to protect true heroes of our times like Toni Gallieese who chose to risk everything so we all can enjoy better life.

Joseph Hanna was a former council member of the Ontario College of Pharmacy. That might explain the weak fine.

Send Costco back to China, There's a lot more people to gauge over there.

If He would Be assigned to be Investigator , He would make the Darker side of this Business , Come into the Light , Where we know our Money really ends up or in Who's Pocket it ends up in . Very Sad he lost his Job . He was only Doing what was Right to begin with . It's always the Honest Person that's pays the Highest of Price

We sure are getting ripped off ! "GREED in its truest forms"!

Costco in Australia you have to pay $60 membership every year Just to do shoping for them,,sacks

I won't be joining Costco.

If ppl TRULY wanted to help us they would legalize medical marijuana in EVERY State! It helps and we need less meds please ppl help us!

Just like chemist warehouse in Australia. Cheaper meds but you don't bother asking their pharmacists for advice, they couldn't care less.

In USA maybe this explains why Costco only carried the crappiest generics?

The guy on the tape sounds like a Mafia thug.