[Ip-health] Don't pull the plug on the Therapeutics Initiative

[Joana Ramos]

Forwarding, FYI, update from British Columbia. BC's pharmaceutical task
force  appointed to study the matter, has now issued it's decision that
TI be eliminated. Concerns had previously been raised about the industry
ties of some task force members, as well as about support services
donated to the task force by the multinational pharmas.

You can express your concerns directly to BC Health Minister George
Abbott at:
george.abbott.mla@leg.bc.ca <mailto:george.abbott.mla@leg.bc.ca>

Joana


----------------- original article--------------

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/editorial/story.html?id=bce9afed-4237-490a-bc2a-44013a5a7b8e

Don't pull the plug on the Therapeutics Initiative
Adrian Dix, Special to the Sun
Published: Friday, November 28, 2008
The Vancouver Sun

The provincial government is set to pull the rug out from under a
world-renowned success story that is credited with saving lives and
sustaining our public health care system.

The Therapeutics Initiative has put British Columbia on the leading edge
of prescription drug policy, earning praise and envy for its
effectiveness. Yet Victoria seems determined to undermine its
effectiveness and B.C.'s reputation.

The Therapeutics Initiative was established in 1994 by UBC's department
of pharmacology and therapeutics to "provide physicians and pharmacists
with up-to-date, evidence-based, practical information on prescription
drug therapy."

Since then, the TI has worked independently of government and the
pharmaceutical industry to provide expert advice to B.C.'s Pharmacare
program, physicians, pharmacists and the public. It has saved lives and
given priority to health outcomes in drug policy.

But the government is about to put an end to the Therapeutics
Initiative. This will mean the loss of independent reviews and the
ability to ensure that Pharmacare's and the public's expenditures on
prescription drugs meet the test of safety and effectiveness.

Last November, the government appointed a pharmaceutical task force, a
committee that included representatives of the brand-name drug industry.
It relied heavily on "staffing, information and research supports"
provided free of charge by Rx&D, the multinational pharmaceutical
industry's lobby group.

The report of the committee, echoing a long-standing demand of the
industry, recommended that the TI be abolished -- and the government has
given notice that that is exactly what will happen. Today, at a closed
door, the government will unveil how the committee's recommendations
will be implemented. Those groups most affected by the decision,
including independent researchers, consumer advocates and the public,
will have to wait outside for the news about how the role of the TI will
be replaced by a more pharmaceutical industry-friendly alternative.

But the plan to abolish the Therapeutics Initiative has raised concern
across the country and around the world. B.C. seniors' groups and family
physicians have urged the government to strengthen, not abolish, the TI.
Andre Picard, one of Canada's premier health writers, called the TI "a
gem of Canadian public policy," while the Canadian Health Services
Research Foundation called it an "outstanding effort [that] has
positively influenced prescription practices" in B.C.

The Therapeutics Initiative has also been praised by B.C.'s
auditor-general who, in 2006, told the health minister that the TI had
been "successful in guiding physicians to practice cost-effective
prescribing." His report recommended that the government significantly
increase support for programs such as the Therapeutics Initiative "that
encourage appropriate drug use through physician best practices in
prescribing."

 From Europe, the prestigious International Society of Drug Bulletins,
based in Verona, Italy, credited the TI with "minimizing drug-related
harm and fatalities" and urged the government "to reconsider the opinion
made by this conflicted task force."

Faculty at Spain's International School of Public Health told the
government that "because [of] the importance of the Therapeutics
Initiative not only in Canada, but all over the world, we are asking you
to retain and strengthen it."

The TI has provided Pharmacare with objective assessment of the evidence
to support coverage of prescription drugs, particularly in regard to
health outcomes and mortality rates. It has saved lives -- the most
well-known example is its assessment of the evidence regarding Vioxx,
which led to Pharmacare's decision not to list the drug as a first-line
treatment. It has been estimated that this saved up to 600 lives,
particularly among the elderly.

The TI has helped B.C. sustain our public health care system and has put
the province on the leading edge of prescription drug policy. Yet the
Liberal government seems determined to stand shoulder to shoulder with
the pharmaceutical drug industry to undermine its effectiveness and
B.C.'s reputation. Premier Gordon Campbell has been stopped before from
pursuing his agenda to undermine the independence of the Therapeutics
Initiative.

This time he has truly stacked the deck. He has excluded his own
Ministry of Health and weighted his committee with pharmaceutical
industry supporters and representatives, defying both science and common
sense.

For those who believe we need an independent voice to protect
prescription drug users and a means to ensure the sustainability of
health care, now is the time to speak out.

Adrian Dix, MLA for Vancouver-Kingsway, is the New Democratic Party's
health critic.


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Joana Ramos, MSW
Cancer Resources & Advocacy
Seattle WA USA
+1-206-229-2420
http://ramoslink.info/
www.bmtbasics.org
www.healthyskepticism.org