"Prescription Barriers Absurd, Doctors Contend"

Important note: Information in this article was accurate in 1991. The state of the art may have changed since the publication date.

"Prescription Barriers Absurd, Doctors Contend"

Toronto Globe and Mail (12/20/91), P. A7
Mickleburgh, Rod

Abstract: The Ontario Health Ministry's new policy for AIDS patients wishing to obtain drugs has been chastised by doctors for being too bureaucratic. The debate follows the ministry's decision to remove a number of drugs from the Ontario Drug Benefit Plan because manufacturers failed to meet a deadline for filing detailed information on them. As a result of the complaints from the doctors, the ministry has approved several alternative ways to pay for the drugs. Doctors contend that there is no reason that the decison should have been made in the first place. Dr. Michael Gordon, vice-president of medical services at the Baycrest Centre for Geriatric Care in Toronto, said, "We can't jeopardize people medically because someone made a mistake and didn't fill out a form." The four drugs, pneumovax, acyclovir, doxycycline, and pyrimethamine, are prescribed most commonly to patients who are HIV-positive. Now, the ministry agreed to underwrite the costs of the drugs when they are prescribed for someone with HIV by a doctor who is on Ontario's list of physicians treating such patients.

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