From the Fraser Institute, April 2, 2008:

Canadian patients are having difficulty obtaining new medicines as a result of lengthy delays by the federal government to approve new prescription drugs and the refusal of provincial drug plans to pay for the new medicines, says a new study by independent research organization the Fraser Institute.

“Health Canada takes up to a year to approve new medicines as safe and effective. And while private insurance plans will immediately cover those medicines, the provinces can take up to another year to decide if they will pay for the same drugs,” said Brett Skinner, Fraser Institute Director of Health, Pharmaceutical and Insurance Policy Research and author of Access Delayed, Access Denied: Waiting For New Medicines in Canada.

“That additional one year delay keeps these new medicines out of reach for the one-third of Canadians who rely on provincial drug plans.”

Read the rest.