Curb Drug Costs - oh Yeah...

It is a rare enough thing for me to praise the B.C. Medical Association, but today must be the day.

Congratulations to Dr. Geoff Appleton, the BCMA President, and his team for presenting to BC Health Minister, Geoff Plant, the position paper called "A Prescription for Quality: Improving Prescription Drug Policy for BC."

For the full story, read the Vancouver Sun coverage here.

Prescription drugs are now the biggest expenditure of our Health Dollar, after hospitals. Our costs have risen from $259 Million in 1985 to $2 Billion today.

One of the biggest reasons is the outrageously aggressive sales tactics of Big Pharma, who visit your family doctor several times a week.

But the other reason these costs have so drastically escalated - and, as I don't have the full report in front of me, I don't know if this is covered therein - is the enormous jump in psychotropic/psychiatric medications. It is my firm belief that at least 90% of these prescriptions are inappropriate, dangerous and unnecessary.

But, remember that next to armaments and illegal drugs, pharmaceuticals are the biggest industry in the world. So good luck to all of us on cutting down.

At least we can thank the BCMA for hollering a bit of a wake-up call.