A Toronto doctor wants to know why Ontario family physicians have no easy way to check how much a medication will cost their patients before they prescribe them.
Dr. Iris Gorfinkel told CTV鈥檚 Your Morning that the impact of doctors not knowing drug costs is 鈥渕assive.鈥� She says, when patients don鈥檛 realize they can鈥檛 afford their meds until they are at the pharmacy counter, they often choose to simply not take the meds -- sometimes with devastating effects.
Dr. Gorfinkel says she recently had one patient who wasn鈥檛 old enough to qualify for the Ontario Drug Benefit, but needed to take a variety of medications after a heart attack. The cost of the drugs totalled more than $400 a month.
When the patient had another heart attack just a few months later, Gorfinkel learned she wasn鈥檛 taking her medications because she couldn鈥檛 afford them. She also later learned that she had prescribed the patient a drug that cost $170 for a three-month supply, when a generic alternative existed for $35. But Gorfinkel didn鈥檛 know.
That鈥檚 why she would like to see the Ontario government change the system so that the cost of a medication is automatically included in a patient鈥檚 electronic medical records. That way, when doctors prescribe a drug, they know right away whether the patient will be able to afford it.
As it is currently, family doctors can use databases to look up a drug鈥檚 price. But the process is time-consuming and, with most appointments lasting only minutes, Gorfinkel says she would rather spend her time attending to her patients鈥� needs.
She says the system needs to be simpler so that she can know right away if a drug is too expensive and whether it would be better to prescribe a generic drug, or go with a less-expensive alternative.
Gorfinkel notes this is an issue that doesn鈥檛 just affect those on low or fixed incomes.
鈥淓ven when patients can afford a drug, I would argue they have the right to know what options there are,鈥� she said.
The Ontario Medical Association backs Gorfinkel鈥檚 proposal to add drug costs to a patient鈥檚 electronic medical record. So do the Nurse Practitioners鈥� Association of Ontario and the Ontario Pharmacists Association.
Dr. Gorfinkel has been calling for change for months and has met with Ministry of Health officials to discuss her proposal. A press secretary for the ministry says they are 鈥渃onsidering next steps.鈥�
But Gorfinkel is puzzled as to why change is taking so long.
鈥淚t鈥檚 interesting because everyone is on board with the idea. Everybody readily acknowledges the importance of this. And yet there鈥檚 an inertia to change,鈥� she said.
She says her idea is simple and would cost 鈥渧ery little鈥� to institute.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 holding it up is one thing: 鈥楾hat鈥檚 the way we鈥檝e always done things.鈥� And that鈥檚 a poor excuse,鈥� she said.
