Ms. Andrea Horwath: My question is to the Acting Premier. Jill Anzarut, a 35-year-old mother of two young children, is fighting breast cancer.
Jill's doctor prescribed a drug called Herceptin, a drug approved for the very kind of breast cancer that she is diagnosed with. But she was told her tumour is not big enough yet, and OHIP would not cover the $40,000-a-year cost.
She wants to know why the McGuinty Liberal government is denying her treatment.
Hon. Dwight Duncan: To the Minister of Health.
Hon. Deborah Matthews: Thank you to the member opposite for the question. I want to start by saying when people are faced with health care challenges, health care crises, we want to be there for them. We want to do everything we can to support them in their journey back to good health. Of course, that applies in this case as well.
When it comes to funding drugs, everyone in this House should know that that decision is not one that rests with the Minister of Health; that is not one that rests with the cabinet table. In 2006, we took the power to make decisions about what drugs are funded and what drugs are not funded out of the political arena.
We believe in evidence. We are committed to relying on our experts. The experts are continually reviewing the evidence that tells us what we ought to fund and what we ought not-
The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Thank you. Supplementary?
Ms. Andrea Horwath: Jill is a courageous and determined woman in a terrifying situation. She just started her chemotherapy treatment recently, and she's a little scared but a little bit more than frustrated.
I had a chance to talk to her this morning. She asked me why the experts in Alberta, British Columbia and Nova Scotia have all approved Herceptin for use by women with very similar kinds of breast cancer. Manitoba approve to do for use on a case-by-case basis. Manitoba has approved it for use on a case-by-case basis. She wants to know if the Premier and his minister think these provinces are doing something wrong?
Hon. Deborah Matthews: The member opposite needs to understand that this issue is not one that belongs in the political arena. It is our responsibility as a government to ensure that there is enough money in the drug budget. We took an important step to actually decrease the price of generic drugs so that we could fund more drugs.
To make a political issue out of this, in my opinion, is not the direction we should be going. We rely on evidence. Cancer Care Ontario and the committee to evaluate drugs are constantly evaluating the decisions we make around drug funding, and that is where the decision-making ought to be.
The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Final supplementary?
Ms. Andrea Horwath: In 2005, the then Minister of Health announced that Herceptin would be available for early breast cancer. In a press release, the government bragged about fast-tracking the review process to get the drug approved, but now, in 2011, why does Jill have to fight both breast cancer and her government?
Hon. Deborah Matthews: The member opposite ought to know that, in 2006, we changed the way drugs are approved in this province. We cannot have a health system where the stories that land on the front page of the paper determine our health care policy. We must rely on the evidence. It would be unfair to those who do not get their stories on the front page if we were to give priority to those who do.
We must take a responsible approach when it comes to funding drugs. We must rely on the evidence. We must always be examining the new evidence, and that is exactly what we are doing in this case.
The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): New question.
Ms. Horwath: To the Acting Premier: In September 2009, the Ombudsman released a damning report on this government's handling of Avastin, a drug approved for metastatic colorectal cancer. The Ombudsman found that the minister had placed an arbitrary cap on the funding of this drug that "disregards the individual needs of medical consumers, as well as the ethical obligations of their physicians." Can the Acting Premier assure Ontarians that his government isn't repeating the same mistakes today?
Hon. Dwight Duncan: The Minister of Health and Long-Term Care.
Hon. Deborah Matthews: Again, thank you for the question. I must reiterate, we do not, I do not, our cabinet does not, politicians do not, decide and ought not decide what drugs are covered and for whom.
I do want to refer to the Ombudsman's report on Avastin, and this is what he said, and I'm quoting from page 35, "Funding decisions cannot be made in a vacuum, but must take into account a variety of sometimes countervailing factors. The costs associated with the new drug must be weighed against its medical benefits."
We have taken-as a significant responsibility-increasing funding for prescription drugs. We're able to fund more drugs. We're able to help more people, and the decisions on what drugs are funded-
The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Thank you. Supplementary?
Ms. Andrea Horwath: Jill, as a mum, is facing a situation that no one should have to face. Today, she's at the hospital while her son's getting his tonsils out. That should be enough stress for any mother in a single day. Instead, she's also facing a confusing bureaucratic maze.
The Minister of Health argues that government has no role to play in these decisions. If it's not the government's job to answer for bureaucratic decisions that lack compassion, transparency and common sense, whose job is it?
Hon. Deborah Matthews: I take it from the line of questioning that the member opposite believes we ought to fund every drug that is approved for use in Canada. If the member opposite actually is taking that position, then I would expect that she put that in her policy, in her platform, as we move forward into this election.
Every government in Ontario historically has had a formulary that lists drugs that are funded by the taxpayers of this province. We owe it to taxpayers to rely on evidence. Much as I would love to provide every drug to every Ontarian, it would be irresponsible of me to do that.
The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Supplementary?
Ms. Andrea Horwath: Jill, her family and thousands of people supporting her are simply asking this government to ensure that a medically proven treatment is available to those in need. Canadians have made it very clear that the size of our bank account should not be a factor when making decisions about our health, yet more and more people are being told to pay for their treatment out of pocket, or to cover the cost of delisted services, or to pay $1,800 a day to stay in the hospital. Just because Jill and her family happen to call Ontario home, she is being made to fight the health care system as well as fight her cancer.
When is this Premier and his minister going to take some responsibility and deliver a health care system in Ontario that delivers for people when they need it?
Hon. Deborah Matthews: I don't know how many more times I need to say this. We simply must rely on the expertise of the scientists, the researchers and the physicians, all of whom have a role to play in our evaluation of drugs. This is an issue that belongs with the experts.
Our job is to ensure there is adequate funding. I am very pleased to say that we have tripled the funding for cancer-fighting drugs since we were elected in 2003. As of January, we've added 171 new drugs to the formulary since we began our drug reforms back in 2006. We fund 44 cancer drugs and we are investing in new cancer care projects across the province. My-
The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Thank you. New question?
When it comes to funding drugs, everyone in this House should know that that decision is not one that rests with the Minister of Health; that is not one that rests with the cabinet table. In 2006, we took the power to make decisions about what drugs are funded and what drugs are not funded out of the political arena.
We believe in evidence. We are committed to relying on our experts. The experts are continually reviewing the evidence that tells us what we ought to fund and what we ought not-
The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Thank you. Supplementary?
Ms. Andrea Horwath: Jill is a courageous and determined woman in a terrifying situation. She just started her chemotherapy treatment recently, and she's a little scared but a little bit more than frustrated.
I had a chance to talk to her this morning. She asked me why the experts in Alberta, British Columbia and Nova Scotia have all approved Herceptin for use by women with very similar kinds of breast cancer. Manitoba approve to do for use on a case-by-case basis. Manitoba has approved it for use on a case-by-case basis. She wants to know if the Premier and his minister think these provinces are doing something wrong?
Hon. Deborah Matthews: The member opposite needs to understand that this issue is not one that belongs in the political arena. It is our responsibility as a government to ensure that there is enough money in the drug budget. We took an important step to actually decrease the price of generic drugs so that we could fund more drugs.
To make a political issue out of this, in my opinion, is not the direction we should be going. We rely on evidence. Cancer Care Ontario and the committee to evaluate drugs are constantly evaluating the decisions we make around drug funding, and that is where the decision-making ought to be.
The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Final supplementary?
Ms. Andrea Horwath: In 2005, the then Minister of Health announced that Herceptin would be available for early breast cancer. In a press release, the government bragged about fast-tracking the review process to get the drug approved, but now, in 2011, why does Jill have to fight both breast cancer and her government?
Hon. Deborah Matthews: The member opposite ought to know that, in 2006, we changed the way drugs are approved in this province. We cannot have a health system where the stories that land on the front page of the paper determine our health care policy. We must rely on the evidence. It would be unfair to those who do not get their stories on the front page if we were to give priority to those who do.
We must take a responsible approach when it comes to funding drugs. We must rely on the evidence. We must always be examining the new evidence, and that is exactly what we are doing in this case.
The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): New question.
Ms. Horwath: To the Acting Premier: In September 2009, the Ombudsman released a damning report on this government's handling of Avastin, a drug approved for metastatic colorectal cancer. The Ombudsman found that the minister had placed an arbitrary cap on the funding of this drug that "disregards the individual needs of medical consumers, as well as the ethical obligations of their physicians." Can the Acting Premier assure Ontarians that his government isn't repeating the same mistakes today?
Hon. Dwight Duncan: The Minister of Health and Long-Term Care.
Hon. Deborah Matthews: Again, thank you for the question. I must reiterate, we do not, I do not, our cabinet does not, politicians do not, decide and ought not decide what drugs are covered and for whom.
I do want to refer to the Ombudsman's report on Avastin, and this is what he said, and I'm quoting from page 35, "Funding decisions cannot be made in a vacuum, but must take into account a variety of sometimes countervailing factors. The costs associated with the new drug must be weighed against its medical benefits."
We have taken-as a significant responsibility-increasing funding for prescription drugs. We're able to fund more drugs. We're able to help more people, and the decisions on what drugs are funded-
The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Thank you. Supplementary?
Ms. Andrea Horwath: Jill, as a mum, is facing a situation that no one should have to face. Today, she's at the hospital while her son's getting his tonsils out. That should be enough stress for any mother in a single day. Instead, she's also facing a confusing bureaucratic maze.
The Minister of Health argues that government has no role to play in these decisions. If it's not the government's job to answer for bureaucratic decisions that lack compassion, transparency and common sense, whose job is it?
Hon. Deborah Matthews: I take it from the line of questioning that the member opposite believes we ought to fund every drug that is approved for use in Canada. If the member opposite actually is taking that position, then I would expect that she put that in her policy, in her platform, as we move forward into this election.
Every government in Ontario historically has had a formulary that lists drugs that are funded by the taxpayers of this province. We owe it to taxpayers to rely on evidence. Much as I would love to provide every drug to every Ontarian, it would be irresponsible of me to do that.
The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Supplementary?
Ms. Andrea Horwath: Jill, her family and thousands of people supporting her are simply asking this government to ensure that a medically proven treatment is available to those in need. Canadians have made it very clear that the size of our bank account should not be a factor when making decisions about our health, yet more and more people are being told to pay for their treatment out of pocket, or to cover the cost of delisted services, or to pay $1,800 a day to stay in the hospital. Just because Jill and her family happen to call Ontario home, she is being made to fight the health care system as well as fight her cancer.
When is this Premier and his minister going to take some responsibility and deliver a health care system in Ontario that delivers for people when they need it?
Hon. Deborah Matthews: I don't know how many more times I need to say this. We simply must rely on the expertise of the scientists, the researchers and the physicians, all of whom have a role to play in our evaluation of drugs. This is an issue that belongs with the experts.
Our job is to ensure there is adequate funding. I am very pleased to say that we have tripled the funding for cancer-fighting drugs since we were elected in 2003. As of January, we've added 171 new drugs to the formulary since we began our drug reforms back in 2006. We fund 44 cancer drugs and we are investing in new cancer care projects across the province. My-
The Speaker (Hon. Steve Peters): Thank you. New question?
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