Balancing cost and value -
How changes to drug prices could affect your options as a patient
When someone you know gets sick – the kind of sick that turns everything on its head, as Canadians we trust that they will have access to the best treatments research has to offer. That despite the finer points around the state of our healthcare system, we know that for the most part, if there’s an effective treatment out there – we’ ll get it.
A proposed overhaul by Health Canada of the Patented Medicine Prices Review Board (PMPRB) aims to change Canada’s drug-pricing regulations and improve the “three A’s” – affordability, accessibility, and appropriate use of prescription medicines.
But healthcare is incredibly complex, and patient and industry stakeholders are hoping for ongoing collaboration between all parties to preserve patient access to current and future medications. For industry and patient groups, meaningful consultation is an important step in ensuring that of those “three As,” accessibility is getting just as much attention as affordability.
And what can be difficult to fully appreciate, is the complex relationship that exists between issues – that tighter price controls, while seemingly without a downside, can actually impact Canadians’ access to the newest therapies. It can mean waiting longer for the latest medicines to get here. It can mean fewer clinical trials – which is often the fastest way for patients to get access to the newest life-saving therapies. And for patients in the midst of their worst day, month, year – that’s unacceptable.
Fortunately for Canadians, according to the National Prescription Drug Utilization Information System, Canada currently enjoys one of the highest percentages of new medicine launches in the world, receiving access to 61 per cent of new treatments. Countries like New Zealand and Australia may boast lower drug prices than Canada, but launch only 13 per cent and 40 per cent of new drugs respectively – numbers that can have a meaningful impact on patients.
As the federal government continues important consultations on improving how Canadians access the healthcare they depend on, it is important to appreciate the complexity of the system, and the many economies at work, in order to safeguard a standard of care that we can be proud of. A standard of care that puts the needs of patients first.
All the doors that were closed because of my health problems are now open for me. I’m living proof of the benefits of innovative medicine and clinical trials. Iain Chisholm, Crohn’s Patient
I believe everyone should have the same access to innovative medicines that I did. As the longest survivor of Stage 4 melanoma, I’m living proof of how important that access can be. Kathy Barnard, melanoma Patient