New Westminster MLA Judy Darcy is demanding that the Liberal government restore $1 million in funding for B.C.'s independent drug watchdog.
Darcy, who is the NDP health critic, joined her NDP colleagues in demanding that the provincial government restore funding for the Therapeutics Initiative based at the University of British Columbia. She said the initiative has saved lives and saved B.C.'s Pharmacare system more than $140 million a year.
"The Liberals keep saying that examining the government's key responsibilities will be central to the core review that they are planning to launch. Keeping patients safe should be one of the Ministry of Health's primary obligations, and a valid core review would expand B.C.'s drug watchdog,"she said in a news release.
Instead, Darcy said the government is "gutting" the Therapeutics Initiative and jeopardizing research into the safety of drugs.
According to the Therapeutics Initiative website, the program was established in 1994 by the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics in cooperation with the Department of Family Practice at UBC, with the mission of providing physicians and pharmacists with up-to-date, evidence-based, practical information on prescription drug therapy.
To reduce bias as much as possible, the Therapeutics Initiative was created as an independent organization that was separate from government, the pharmaceutical industry and other interest groups.
According to Darcy, the Therapeutics Initiative was responsible for sounding an early alarm to protect British Columbians from drugs like Vioxx, an arthritis treatment that was later recalled elsewhere in the world, as well as Avandia, an anti-diabetic drug that proved to have heart-related side effects.
During the recent provincial election campaign, the NDP pledged to reverse the Liberals decision to shut down the Therapeutics Initiative and increase funding to $2 million. After funding was cut to the program, UBC paid the expenses and researchers' salaries to keep the program going.
