Access to Medications

Microbes are getting tougher and ever more resistant to antibiotic therapy. Because they reproduce in huge numbers over short time spans, they are outrunning our ability to combat them.

Health Canada opened up its drug review process to the public when it held its Expert Advisory Panel (EAP) and Public Forum on the selective COX-2 inhibitors in Ottawa on June 9th. The EAP heard and questioned pharmaceutical drug company presentations in public and included public input as part of the evidence being considered.

Unless consumers and concerned citizens get involved in pressing for solutions to cross-border Internet pharmacy and the bulk importation of Canadian drugs into the U.S., Ottawa will likely keep playing around with more policy “oysters”.

News about COX-2 inhibitors disrupted treatment for many people with arthritis but the storm of suffering it caused may have a silver lining.

Since Merck and Co. Inc. pulled Vioxx off the shelves, CAPA Steering Committee members have been asked countless times how this decision affects their lives. The majority of us do not have personal experiences to relate. Do you?

Progress is being made in leaps and bounds on the issue of Cross Border Internet Pharmacy. Everyone is jumping on the bandwagon including Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh.

Data from one of two cancer studies indicates an increased risk of cardiovascular problems in patients taking Celebrex - the second study shows no increase.

A ministerial task force mandated by Prime Minister Paul Martin at the Future of Health Care meeting held in September is charged with developing a national pharmaceutical strategy by June 30, 2006. Where are we now?

Consumers, stakeholders and medical professionals must be part of the task force created to design a national pharmacare program.

Pharmacare coverage and policy differs from province to province. Compare how your provincial coverage stacks up against other provinces.