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Drug Programs Branch
3rd Floor, 5700 Yonge Street
North York, Ontario
M2M 4K5
January 18, 1999
Dear Ms. Linda Tennant,
We are writing to you on behalf of the Coalition of Family
Physicians of Ontario. Our organization represents
over 3000 Family Physicians in this province. Our members
have expressed grave concerns regarding changes in the new
Ontario Drug Benefit criteria for Limited Use Drugs that have
come into effect December 31, 1998.
We strongly believe that the new Limited Use Drug recommendations:
- Will be detrimental to the quality of care we provide
our patients by limiting access to appropriate drugs to
those who can afford them least i.e. seniors, welfare recipients,
single mothers etc.
- Will seriously affect patients in remote areas who will
be unable to get investigative procedures and specialist
appointments in a timely fashion.
- Have been designed without any formal input by the family
physicians of this province. It is ultimately the
family physicians of this province who will have to deal
with the far-reaching ramifications off these recommendations
on our patients.
- Are purely a cost saving measure by the Ministry of Health,
with little regard to the well-being of the patients of
this province.
- Will in fact increase utilisation, by encouraging unnecessary
visits to family physicians, unnecessary tests being performed
and unnecessary referrals to specialists.
- Are a way of imposing an increased work load on physicians
without any compensation for their time.
- In effect, are what we see as a trend in your government
towards United States style "Managed Care", where
physicians are dictated to by the insurer as to what drugs
can be prescribed, without regard to the medications that
are best suited for our patients' needs.
The COFP strongly urges the Ontario Drug Benefit Program
and the Ministry of Health to immediately review and revise
these new recommendations for Limited Use Drugs. As
well, we
believe it is imperative that all changes and recommendations
be made in consultation with the family physicians of this
province. Since it is the family physicians who deal
with patients' health problems on a daily basis, we are in
the best position to advise the Ministry of Health and Ontario's
Drug Benefit Program.
We await your immediate reply.
Sincerely,
Sharla Lichtman, M.D., CCFP.. President
Rochelle Schwartz, M.D., CCFP.. Vice-President
CC: Elizabeth Witmer, Minister of
Health
Mary Catherine Lindberg, Assistant Deputy Minister
Sandra Lang, Deputy Minister
Gilbert Sharpe, Director of Legal Services
Premier Mike Harris
Gerrard Kennedy, Liberal Health Critic
---Back
to Position Statement---
---Back to COFP Letters---
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