Millions of our health care dollars wasted on purchasing wrongly prescribed drugs: Gerrard

WINNIPEG – In today’s Question Period, Manitoba Liberal Leader Dr.Jon Gerrard raised concerns about the high cost associated with prescribing unnecessary antibiotics.

“The Minister is wasting large amounts of public dollars on inappropriate medications and at the same time limiting public support for medications which have been shown to be effective,”Dr.Gerrard said.

According to an article in October’s issue of The Canadian Medical Association Journal, 22-43% of antibiotics are inappropriately prescribed.  The study evaluated 852 primary care physicians in Quebec and followed their antibiotic prescription trail over an eight year period.

“Right now in Manitoba, a province with a high number of people suffering from Diabetes, insulin pumps are not funded by the government. Avastin, a drug used to treat colorectal cancer, with high rates of success, is only funded on a case by case basis as is Rituxan another cancer treatment drug,” Dr.Gerrard said.  “Guidelines and or standards need to be put in place to ensure that precious health care dollars are used in the best possible way,”