Generic Drugs slow to make Newfoundland and Labrador Formulary

Loss of Millions $$$ from Health Care - Secret Committee

Do you want to witness wastage of our health care dollars?

An open request to the Auditor General: Please review the workings, processes, and results of the interchangeable drug review advisory committee.

This committee consists of individuals appointed by the Minister of Health and must comprise of 2 pharmacists, 2 physicians, the Deputy Minister, and other persons the Minister may wish to appoint.

When a drug comes off patent and generic equivalents are made available - this committee reviews submissions by generic drug companies to have their products listed on our formulary. These drugs which range between 50-60% of brand price have the potential to save tens of millions of dollars a year.

First you must understand that in order for a generic to be permitted for use in Canada - Health Canada reviews the scientific data and confirms that the generic is safe. Once that has occurred any pharmacy in Canada can purchase the drug and dispense it under various private insurance plans and cash paying customers. In fact these new generic equivalents are almost immediately available in our hospitals - and quite often are dispensed to a patient when in hospital - only to be unavailable at a retail pharmacy when they are released.

Newfoundland and Labrador is notoriously slow to list many of these generic equivalents as they become available. This money is wasted and over the years the tens of millions could be hundreds of millions. In some cases one month delay equals over $100,000 loss of health care dollars.

So how is it that other provinces in Canada are dispensing a generic equivalent under publicly funded drug cards and hospitals in our province are dispensing this same drug - but this "committee" has not cleared it for retail pharmacies - costing us tens of millions of dollars?

The review committee sits in private and the deliberations are secret. The minutes are not available to the public.

Will the media attempt to find the answers to this gross wastage of health care dollars? Will the Auditor General review this situation and report to the House of Assembly what is going on?

Will the Opposition parties step to the plate?

This is a serious and ongoing issue - that is being kept from public scrutiny.