CAUT | ACPPU
Canadian Association of University Teachers
| Physicians, Pharmacists and Nurses urge Premier Clark to protect drug safety and affordability |
| (Tuesday, June 21, 2011)
- An eminent group of physicians, pharmacists and nurses in British Columbia issued an open letter to Premier Christy Clark today calling on her government to ensure continuing funding of a UBC-based research group that assesses the safety and efficacy of pharmaceutical drugs. “For more than 16 years, the Therapeutics Initiative (TI), an internationally acclaimed team of researchers at the University of British Columbia, has provided physicians, pharmacists, nurses and policymakers with rigorous, independent, evidence-based assessments of prescription drugs,” the letter states. “In addition to informing decisions about which drugs to fund under British Columbia’s PharmaCare program, the TI’s work has helped us do a better job by informing our decisions about the best medications to prescribe.” The work performed by the TI often puts it at odds with the drug industry which lobbied the former Campbell government to have the group’s funding reduced. In January of this year, the government announced funding to the TI would be cut by half, seriously limiting its ability to carry out drug assessments. In their letter, health practitioners say the TI’s early warnings on the dangers of Vioxx likely saved up to 500 lives in the province. “Drug costs are rapidly rising and adverse drug reactions are widespread,” says the letter. “We strongly advise you not to abandon the model that has served British Columbians so well for the past decade and a half.” A copy of the letter is available to download here. |
Return to main news page |
Top of page