Monitor Telegram

Bringing about a higher level of transparency and accountability in provincial and federal governments to help protect taxpayers from abuse

Bringing about a higher level of transparency and accountability in provincial and federal governments to help protect taxpayers from abuse.

Getting away with pharmacy fraud is ‘no problem’ in Ontario

A Toronto Star/Global News investigation reveals that few pharmacists are ever caught for fraudulent overbilling, despite evidence that it’s a persistent problem, and that chances of a criminal conviction are slight in the rare cases that are pursued.

“I’m the cleaner,” says the man wearing a ball cap and sunglasses to mask his identity.

“I help them to clean up the books … fix the papers,” he says. “Make it look nice, like a proper pharmacy.”

We’ll call the cleaner “Ivan.” He agreed to share details of the murky world of pharmacy fraud — a scam that costs the public millions of dollars every year, but no one knows exactly how much.

Ivan is the man pharmacists call when they have been flagged for overbilling the Ontario Drug Benefit Program (ODB), sometimes for hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars. He comes in and creates a paper trail to hide the fraud and get pharmacists off.

Read more at Niagara Falls Review

https://www.niagarafallsreview.ca/news-story/9192258-getting-away-with-pharmacy-fraud-is-no-problem-in-ontario/?fbclid=iwar2ujaq_sje3-l5q7efamwjnk50tmv2n-w3rd_9nosuffax-bfeh34vmiqk

Opioids no better than acetaminophen, ibuprofen for chronic back and arthritis pain: study

Acetaminophen, ibuprofen and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) are better than opioids at easing the intensity of chronic pain in the back, knees or hips, a U.S. experiment suggests.

And opioids are no better than these other drugs at reducing how much pain interferes with daily activities like walking, working, sleeping or enjoying life, researchers report in JAMA.

Read more at The Globe and Mail

Are Canadian Pharmacies the Solution to America’s High Prescription Drug Prices?

Every day for the last three years, I’ve started my morning with four prescription pills that cost roughly $11 each. I say “roughly” because the price fluctuates. The last time I filled a 90-day prescription, the full cost was $4,037. Sometimes, a 90-day refill costs hundreds of dollars less. But it’s always expensive enough for one of the pharmacy techs at my local Rite Aid to let out a whistle when I tell them what I need to pick up.

About a year ago, someone I suggested I check out the prices for this drug in Canada. My medicine, which is called Lialda, turns out to cost thousands of dollars less just 500 miles north of D.C. Global Care RX, a Canadian online pharmacy, sells a 90-day supply of Lialda for $710, while Canadian Pharmacy King sells it for $734.

Read more at reason

As Opioids Cross the Border, Several Senators Consider Importing Drugs from Canada

Multiple bills circulating through Congress indicate lawmakers are interested in allowing Americans to import prescription drugs from Canada and other nations, even though that proposal has been strongly criticized by leading members of the law enforcement community.

Sens. John McCain (R., Ariz.) and Amy Klobuchar (D., Minn.) floated an amendment to the Senate budget bill Wednesday that would allow bills “relating to lowering the cost of prescription drugs in the United States by importing drugs from Canada.” McCain and Klobuchar are coauthors of the “Safe and Affordable Drugs from Canada Act,” which would allow Americans to buy prescription drugs from Canadian pharmacies, with some restrictions.

Read more at The Washington Free Beacon

Health Canada ‘gutting’ law to detect dangerous medicines, with possible deadly consequences, advocates warn

After Vanessa’s Law successfully navigated Parliament and became the law of the land, then Conservative MP Terence Young felt a sense of relief, able to breathe believing he’d finally won his 14-year battle.

Parliament had passed, without a single dissenting vote, a government bill that had started as his own; a bill to protect patients from potentially dangerous prescription drugs – to protect Canadians from suffering the agony his family suffered when his daughter, 15-year-old Vanessa, died of a heart attack after taking a prescribed drug.

But now, almost three years later, Young’s battle continues as a handful of measures he says are critical to the bill’s efficacy have yet to be enacted.

Red more at Global News

Canada pays more for prescription drugs for common conditions than other wealthy countries: CMAJ study

Canada had the second-highest medication costs for common conditions such as high blood pressure and cholesterol in 2015 compared to nine other countries with universal health-care systems, a study published in the CMAJ says. (David Donnelly/CBC)

Canada had the second-highest medication costs for common conditions such as high blood pressure and cholesterol in 2015 compared to nine other affluent countries with universal health-care systems, suggests a new study calling for a national drug plan to lower prices.

read more at cbc.ca