Generic drug competition benefits Ontarians

Following yesterday's release of the Competition Bureau's report, "Benefiting from Generic Drug Competition in Canada: The Way Forward," the Ontario Pharmacists' Association (OPA) is emphasizing that competition in the generic drugs industry is already benefiting Ontarians through accessible, high quality, cost-effective professional pharmacy care.

"The current pharmacy funding model in Ontario is feasible because professional allowances provided to pharmacies by generic drug manufacturers subsidize the provision of dispensing services," said Dennis Darby, Chief Executive Officer of OPA.

"These professional allowances also help pharmacists provide other pharmacy professional services such as continuing education programs; clinic days including flu shot, asthma clinics and diabetes management clinics; public education days for health protection and promotion activities; compliance packaging that assists patients with complicated medication regimes; disease management and prevention initiatives such as patient information material and services, blood pressure monitoring, blood glucose meter training, asthma management and smoking cessation; private counseling areas; and hospital in-patient or long-term care home resident clinical pharmacy services, such as medication reconciliation initiatives."

In Ontario, the role that professional allowances play was addressed in the Transparent Drug Systems for Patients Act, 2006. The Act requires pharmacies to use professional allowances for direct patient care, and report regularly to government on how these funds are being used.

Currently, the funding received for pharmacy services from public or private drug plans is much lower than the cost to pharmacies for providing those services.

The "Costs of Ontario Community Pharmacy Services - 2008" study of 505 community pharmacies in the province found the median cost to provide pharmacy services was $13.77 per prescription. By comparison, Ontario Drug Benefit Program (ODBP) pharmacy compensation averages $8.70 per prescription, according to current data.(1)  

"The current framework for the compensation of pharmacy services is not sustainable or economically viable and needs to be modernized," Darby said. "OPA and other organizations are working closely with the Ontario government and others to find solutions that will enable pharmacists to continue to provide the best care possible for patients."  

The Ontario Pharmacists' Association is the professional advocacy association representing the views and interests of more than 11,000 practicing pharmacists and pharmacists-in-training.