Health Minister Allan Rock angrily criticized drug giant Bayer AG on Tuesday, accusing the company of playing games with the government over the availability of anti-anthrax medication...Rock said Bayer told his officials last week it could not supply enough of the patented antibiotic Cipro. As a result, Health Canada hastily ordered a generic copy of the drug from Toronto-based Apotex. When Bayer learned about the Apotex contract, it threatened to sue the government for patent infringement, and Health Canada backed down. Bayer now denies ever having said that it couldn't supply the drug...Mike McBane of the Canadian Health Coalition supported Rock's stance: "The issue is access to life-saving medicine. Should protecting public health come before protecting patents? That's the real issue."