Nov 24 2022 — Joel Lexchin — Canadian Health Coalition — As the cost of prescription drugs climbs, Canadians are now spending as much on medication as they are for doctors’ salaries, according to a new report on public and private health care spending from the Canadian Institute of Health Information (CIHI). Drugs and doctors are now the two biggest consumers of health spending, after hospitals.
Apr 25 2022 — Joel Lexchin — National Newswatch — After putting off changes to the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board regulations four times in the past, the Liberal government has effectively caved-in to the pharmaceutical industry and its allies when it comes to making prescriptions more affordable for Canadians. The excuse from Health Minister Jean-Yves Duclos was “unspecified changes to the pharmaceutical landscape brought […]
Apr 6 2022 — Joel Lexchin — National Newswatch — Canadians were promised pharmacare in the 1964 Hall Commission report that brought us medicare, but it never happened. The National Forum on Health recommended pharmacare in 1998. The Liberals set up the Advisory Council on the Implementation of National Pharmacare which reported in early 2019, and then campaigned on pharmacare in the 2019 election. Still […]
Feb 9 2022 — Joel Lexchin — National Newswatch — The following by Dr Joel Lexchin offered in response to a National Newswatch opinion piece “Severely reducing drug prices by federal regulation will harm not help patients” by Nigel Rawson, John Adams and Beth Vanstone. Both John Adams and Beth Vanstone have been and are severely affected by our current pharmaceutical policy environment. For many diseases […]
Mar 15 2018 — Joel Lexchin — The Conversation — The cost of a life-saving drug to treat cystinosis — a rare disease affecting probably 100 people across Canada — is soon to rise from $10,000 per year to more than $300,000 annually. The new form of the drug, Procysbi, contains the same active ingredient as the old form of the drug, Cystagon. It differs […]
Mar 15 2018 — Joel Lexchin — The Conversation — Joel Lexchin, University of Toronto The cost of a life-saving drug to treat cystinosis — a rare disease affecting probably 100 people across Canada — is soon to rise from $10,000 per year to more than $300,000 annually. The new form of the drug, Procysbi, contains the same active ingredient as the old form of […]
Jan 10 2018 — Joel Lexchin — The Conversation — In a little-noticed announcement in October 2017, Health Canada signaled its intention to raise the fees that drug makers will have to pay when they want to get a new medication on the market. These user fees currently fund about 50 per cent of Health Canada’s operating budget for regulating prescription drugs. Health Canada wants […]
Jan 10 2018 — Joel Lexchin — The Conversation — Health Canada’s intention to increase the fees drug makers pay for the drug approval process threatens to compromise drug safety and the health of the Canadian public. (Shutterstock) Joel Lexchin, University of Toronto In a little-noticed announcement in October 2017, Health Canada signaled its intention to raise the fees that drug makers will have to […]