The Cameron Institute

National Patient Group Survey re Comprehensive Drug Coverage

There has been a lot of debate about national pharmacare coverage of catastrophic drug costs in government, the media, and among health policy experts, yet patients— who will be the ones most affected—have rarely had their say. To get a better understanding of what patients value in terms of a national drug coverage program The

CDR/HTA fail on principle: Lessons not learned can still be valuable

In 1990, the government’s Ontario Provincial Inquiry into the Acquisition, Distribution, Dispensing, and Prescribing of Pharmaceutical Medicines in Ontario Inquiry, chaired by Frederick H. Lowy, submitted its report, entitled Prescriptions for Health. Dr. W. Spitzer of McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, chaired the Inter-University Working Group, which submitted a paper to the Lowy Commission of

Drug prices are too high!?

While provinces are attached to reducing prices of drugs, the driver of cost is utilization. Many Canadians do not have drug insurance benefits and those that do find themselves covering many costs out-of-pocket. We’re seeing a number of patients suffer while misinformation about drug costs spreads, the pharmaceutical industry is vilified and government inaction on

Rule of Law and State Capacity: Keys to Market Access in Developing and Resource-Constrained Markets

Despite the availability of essential medicines in developing countries, one-third of the world’s population does not have access to essential medicines due to barriers including money, power, politics, and ideologies. Market failures and lack of political will to create stable, ethical and law-abiding government administrations that can support infrastructure and resources should carry a significant amount

5 Principles, 4 Pharmacare Models, 1Panacea?

Pharmaceutical models being touted for Canada do more harm than good for patients in need of innovative but expensive care. The following slides are from The Cameron Institute executive director Wayne Taylor’s presentation to the Best Medicine Coalition’s recent annual conference.

U.N.’s drug patent crusade immune to reality (East Bay Times guest commentary)

By D. Wayne Taylor East Bay Times guest commentary In June 2016, the United Nations is expected to issue recommendations for expanding access to medicines in developing countries. The panel’s proposals will almost certainly fall short. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon convened his High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines in November 2015 to develop “solutions for remedying

Canada’s Self-Defeating Attack on Innovation

By Philip Stevens & Mark Schultz Over the last decade, it’s become increasingly difficult for pharmaceutical companies to protect their intellectual property rights in Canada. Canadian courts have invalidated over 25 patents since 2005 because the inventor did not have proof that widely prescribed medicines performed exactly as predicted in the original patent application. Canada’s

Provincial Catastrophic and Disease-specific Drug Plans – Comparisons in Mediocrity

The Cameron Institute believes that it is time for the national government of Canada to help patients by supporting or backstopping health system payors, public and private, to enable individuals to afford the high cost of drugs that are targeted to treat debilitating and often life-threatening conditions. This document shows that existing provincial catastrophic and

Pharmacare costing in Canada

With all of the problems and challenges facing Canada’s healthcare today, one of the topics garnering much attention is that of pharmacare, or more precisely drug coverage and reimbursement. And for good reason. Among the OECD countries Canada has one of the worst bundles of public drug coverage and reimbursement: long-delayed access (if any access

Choice Matters

Canadians need more up-to-date options for treatment of medical conditions for the national healthcare system. Because humans are unique, not all medications and treatments are effective for everyone. As a consequence, many patients’ symptoms are not well-managed and there are still diseases without a cure. Although researchers are willing to continue to investigate the human