Letter to Hon George Abbott, BC Minister of Health

June 2, 2008

Hon George Abbott, MLA
Minister of Health
Victoria Office, Room 337
Parliament Buildings
Victoria , BC    V8V 1X4

Re: Support for the Therapeutics Initiative at UBC

Dear Minister,

The Canadian Women's Health Network (CWHN) has read the recently released report from the Pharmaceutical Task Force in British Columbia . We are greatly concerned by the recommendation to abolish—or at least seriously transform—the Therapeutics Initiative (TI) at UBC, and we join others in Canada and internationally who are calling for continued government support for this independent drug review agency.

The TI is, as André Picard described it in the Globe and Mail (29 May 2008) “a gem of Canadian public policy,” and the Government of British Columbia should be lending its full support to this important group of researchers who have not only helped save lives in BC, as well as in other parts of Canada, but also saved BC taxpayers money. By financially supporting the TI, the BC Government helped protect the many people who were warned by TI researchers about the arthritis drug, Vioxx, before it was removed from the market for safety reasons. And government support has helped the TI to become an internationally recognized group of experts involved in the efforts to improve scientific accountability and access to clinical trial information around the world. These are all laudable achievements that would not have been possible without the financial support of the BC Government.

However, the TI's work, and work by similar groups, is far from complete. In light of recent federal changes to the Food and Drugs Act to speed up the drug approval process, independent clinical trial reviews are even more important to ensure the approval of safe and effective drugs that are also cost effective. Access to accurate clinical trial information and systematic drug reviews is vital and the TI regularly provides this whereas manufacturers too often withhold critical data from the public resulting in misleading overestimations of drug efficacy and underestimations of potential harm. 

The CWHN relies on the TI and often refers researchers and journalists—as well as individuals—to its website.  As well, the CWHN is working actively with researchers at the TI and elsewhere to ensure there are necessary gender-based analyses of drugs so that women and men can be treated appropriately. 

Criticisms of the TI in the Task Force report seem to stem from the TI researchers' rigorous methods and stringent conflict of interest guidelines, which do take time. Comprehensive research methods cannot be rushed or guidelines slackened to speed up the process. Those of us who rely on the TI, do so because of the rigorous methods and guidelines. We are confident that the conclusions are based on all available evidence and are trustworthy.

In March 2008, the CWHN conducted a survey on the topic of public access to clinical trial results. The survey asked people if they wanted public access to clinical trial information; how much detail they wanted; how they would like to access the information; and who should be responsible for managing the information. The majority of survey respondents—researchers, health-care professionals, representatives from community health organizations and individuals—were very concerned about who would oversee the information and how the trial results and conclusions would be released to the public. They all emphasized the need for independent oversight, unbiased by the pharmaceutical industry. The TI currently provides this service here in Canada and that is why we at the CWHN, along with others, urge you to continue to support the Therapeutics Initiative—to join in celebrating its impressive body of work so far and to ensure this important work continues.

If you would like to know more about the survey that we conducted, or if you have any other questions or comments, please do not hesitate to contact us at the Canadian Women's Health Network. Thank you.

Sincerely,

Susan Woodward, CMA, FCMA
Chair, CWHN

Abby Lippman, PhD
Policy Chair, CWHN

 

Posted: June 4, 2008