Signs of Alzheimer’s were everywhere. Then his brain improved
Blood biomarkers of telltale signs of early Alzheimer’s disease in the brain of his patient, 55-year-old entrepreneur Simon Nicholls, had all but disappeared in a mere 14 months.
A new study has found that patients being treated for mental illness in Canada wait “far too long” for medication approval and face “inequitable access” across the country.
The study from the Mood Disorders Society of Canada, titled “System Broken,” finds Canadians who depend on public drug plans are especially disadvantaged.
“As we face a widespread and growing mental health crisis, the need to change our broken system is clear,” the report says. “The insights detailed in this report indicate that there are inherent gaps in Canadians’ access to medications for mental illnesses – gaps that illuminate inequity, including time delays, and highlight how mental illness continues to be stigmatized in our society.”
Once Health Canada determines if medications are safe and effective, private insurance plans help cover the cost of these prescriptions.
This study found 42 per cent of those surveyed rely on a public drug plan, a three per cent increase since 2015.
But it found those patients can’t get access to newly approved drugs until they make their way through another layer of bureaucracy, which starts with a health technology assessment that determines if patients on public drug plans are eligible to be reimbursed.
Canada’s Drug and Health Technology Agency, known as CADTH, is responsible for this process in every province and territory except Quebec, where a similar quasi-governmental agency reviews new drugs.
Between 2012 and 2022, CADTH gave a “negative assessment” to 54 per cent of mental illness medications, far higher than the 17 per cent of negative assessments given to non-mental illness drugs.
The study excluded oncology drugs.
“One of the problems is that (CADTH) have no psychiatrists on the committee,” said Dr. Pierre Blier, director of the Mood Disorder Research at the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre.
The report says these negative assessments from both CADTH -- and its Quebec equivalent INESS, which gave 62 per cent negative assessments -- mean those on public drug plans aren't getting reimbursed, making them more expensive.
“So people who can't afford them won't be able to take these medications,” said Blier.
CADTH would not speak with CTV News about the study. However, Health Canada said the government "is committed to safeguarding the Canadian drug supply and ensuring Canadians have access to the drugs they need.”
The access to medication, and the cost associated with it, is something that concerns 28-year-old Ottawa student Chelsea Meldrum.
“I started self-harm and suicidal idealisations at age 12,” said Meldrum, who manages Schizophrenia by taking more than a dozen pills a day.
“I have a few anti-psychotics, which help me with my paranoia, my delusions,” she said.
Meldrum credits these medications with keeping her in touch with reality enough to pursue a degree in health psychology at Carleton University.
She’s currently on a private plan through her mother, but if she wants to move into a place of her own, that coverage will end.
“I'm just worried if I do leave, if I'm going to be able to afford the medication,” she said.
The report estimates mental illnesses cost the Canadian economy about $50 billion per year.
Blier said when those who struggle with mood disorders are denied access to medications, all of society suffers.
“Doctors are often not able to use their first choice of medication for patients because those medications are not accessible. In situations where patients are non-responsive to a variety of medications, we have to go to some of the newer medications,” he said.
"But because they are not covered by government plans, patients cannot access them, and we have to go into different supplemental strategies that aren’t the preferred treatment strategy."
Blood biomarkers of telltale signs of early Alzheimer’s disease in the brain of his patient, 55-year-old entrepreneur Simon Nicholls, had all but disappeared in a mere 14 months.
An invasive moth species is on the rise in Canada and, if you've planted a certain shrub, it could stand to ruin your garden.
Passengers heading from Montreal to Lyon, France on Friday were forced to return home and depart the next day after a pressurization indication was detected in flight.
The Edmonton Oilers avoided elimination from the NHL playoffs Saturday night, beating the visiting Vancouver Canucks 5-1 in Game 6 of their second-round series.
Ottawa's ultra luxury housing market is blooming like the tulips this spring, with a significant increase in the number of homes sold worth more than $2 million.
A contractor working on the Coastal GasLink pipeline has been denied more than $333,000 worth of tax rebates because pieces of machinery it purchased – and claimed were not trucks – were deemed sufficiently truck-like in B.C. Supreme Court.
Fishery and border service officers seized more than 100 kilograms of unauthorized elvers at the Toronto Pearson International Airport on Wednesday.
Oleksandr Usyk defeated Tyson Fury by split decision to become the first undisputed heavyweight boxing champion in 24 years.
May long weekend is finally here, and with the extra time off you may be getting the itch to head out to your garden and plant. However, the old debate whether you should plant now, or wait, is still ever-present.
A B.C. woman says her service dog pulled her from a lake moments before she had a seizure, saving her life.
A Starbucks fan — whose name is Winter — is visiting Canada on a purposeful journey that began with a random idea at one of the coffee chain's stores in Texas.
Members of Piapot First Nation, students from the University of Winnipeg and various other professionals are learning new techniques that will hopefully be used for ground searches of potential unmarked grave sites in the future.
ALS patient Mathew Brown said he’s hopeful for future ALS patients after news this week of research at Western University of a potential cure for ALS.
When Adam Kirschner wrote 'Slap Shot,' he never imagined the song would be embraced by his favourite team.
A team is ready to help an entangled North Atlantic right whale in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.
A $200 reward is being offered by a North Vancouver family for the safe return of their beloved chicken, Snowflake.
Two daughters and a mother were reunited online 40 years later thanks to a DNA kit and a Zoom connection despite living on three separate continents and speaking different languages.
Mother's Day can be a difficult occasion for those who have lost or are estranged from their mom.