Editorial: Liberals cave to Big Pharma


Times Colonist November 26, 2010 Comments (20)

The last act in a nasty vendetta has finally played out. Premier Gordon Campbell's government has decided to kill B.C.'s only independent drug review agency. And not just kill it, but bury it in an unmarked grave.

The agency involved is called the Therapeutics Initiative... it evaluates new drugs that come on the market.

The Therapeutics Initiative saves taxpayers $50 million annually by finding cheaper alternatives...
Moreover, the Therapeutics Initiative runs on a shoestring budget...

Finally, its researchers have been credited with saving 500 lives by issuing timely warnings about suspect medications. When the new anti-inflammatory product Vioxx came out, the agency discovered a link with increased heart attack rates. As a result, although Vioxx was approved across most of North America, it was kept off the shelves in B.C.

None of this is disputable...
... Drug companies have been lobbying for years to get rid of the agency.

The Therapeutics Initiative's job is to disbelieve anything it hears about a drug until evidence can be found to support it. That makes it an industry critic.

And of course pharmaceutical firms want to sell their products. They are on the other side of the fence...



...The Ministry of Health has just outlined a new assessment process. First, the Therapeutics Initiative will have no further role. Its funding is terminated.

Second, whereas the drug industry had no voice in the old system, it will have extensive influence in the new one. ...

Third, in what can only be considered an act of spite, staff at the Therapeutics Initiative are to be kept off the new drug benefit council that will manage the process. The experts who ran Canada's most successful drug review program have been told they are not wanted.


© Copyright (c) The Victoria Times Colonist

Read more: http://www.timescolonist.com/Editori...#ixzz16R0yJ2Tl

(I personally read the Therapeutics Initiative Report and utilize its site for much research.
http://www.ti.ubc.ca/DrugAssessments
As noted in the article This entity kept Vioxx off Canada's pharmacy shelves. it also first reported on the lack of evidence for statin use for "primary prevention", the dangers of antidepressant use in pregnancy and the suicidal dangers of antidepressants in children and adolescents, just to cite a few examples. These would Not have been known without the efforts of this review body. And now, due to political pressure (read Pharma $$$$) the group is being closed down, despite the "just a little decrease in funding as well as no place on the drug review board" disclaimers from the politician responsible for caving to Big Pharma.

Wow. Just wow.
Health Canada in Ottawa has long been a photocopy service distributing Big Pharma's press releases; the on-again off-again non-shortage shortage of Sinemet being the most hilarious recent pharma-porn in Canada - even Apotex, the only maker of sinemet in the Great White North, seemed surprised how easily they could turn the production of sinemet off and then have it turned on again, without a whisper, or at least without a public whisper, from Health Canada. So at the federal level the coast is clear for Big Pharma, and they save money on photocopies.
But on the left coast B.C. had this excellent system - people not on the payroll of the drug marketers were checking out the drugs. And not accepting bribes.... errr... "consulting fees".
And our Liberals pulled the plug, and did so with a remarkably nasty spirit of vengeance.
Did I mention that actual patients and actual doctors and actual health scientists were not part of these meetings? Are you surprised? Do you think the Liberals will somehow have lots of money to spend during the next election? Are you surprised?
It's all fun until someone gets hurt. Health care should not be in the hands of people who do not care about health. When dealing with human sickness and suffering, there should be some factors involved other than greed and love of power.

The embattled MLA who was kicked out of the Alberta Progressive Conservative caucus for criticizing the government on ER backlogs told a radio call-in show Friday that someone called the College of Physicians and Surgeons about his mental health.

Dr. Raj Sherman ... was contacted Thursday by the college's head of psychiatrists.

"She said 'Raj, I need to do a mental health assessment on you,'" he said. "'Somebody called the college president Dr. Trevor Theman about your mental ability to function' … otherwise they're going to take my medical licence."...



Read more: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/edmonton/st...#ixzz16V8ao2wr

..."your mental ability to function' … otherwise they're going to take my medical licence."...

That's the road to totalitarian power. Oppose the government, have your licence taken away?

Oh Canada
the true north strong and free

Eh? What happened Canada?

And the part about testing "your mental ability to function" - PWP get that all the time. But it seems Canada is leading the way to extinguishing one more vital liberty.
If I commit a crime, throw me in jail.
If I did not commit a crime, get out of my face.

My mental condition is none of the government's business.

We get fired from jobs just for the fact of having PD; they don't know or care if we can actually still do the job.
And this guy dared to question the medical industry and their servants in the government, so they publicly demand that he be tested.... it's Catch 22 again: He MUST be crazy because he dared to question the policies of the Canadian B.C. Ministry of Lies, Bribery And Deception"
Oh Canada, we stand on guard for thee ! Too late. The whole country has already been sold out.

Could they be more out in the open? Well be careful you don't follow our footsteps at this point in time.....geezz