The Common Drug Review (CDR) was announced in September 2002 as “a single process for reviewing new drugs and providing formulary listing recommendations to participating publicly-funded federal, provincial and territorial (F/P/T) drug benefit plans in Canada.” Unfortunately, this process specifically excludes those individuals it is intended to serve: consumers and patients.

In 2002 Canada‘s Patented Medicines Prices Review Board compared research and development spending by the innovative pharmaceutical industry in Canada with France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States. It determined that although R&D spending in Canada has increased from 1995 to 2000, Canada’s ratio of R&D to domestic sales ranked behind all other industrialized countries, except Italy.

Canadians’ life expectancy and average income have increased in the last 25 years. But, according to the Canadian Institute for Health Information, personal income levels may impact health outcomes. Among the reasons for the relationship between income and health are: (a) income impacts the availability of proper nutrition, essential medication and some health care services such as dental care, (b) lower levels of income may restrict social participation and reduce opportunities to exercise control over one’s life.

Allergies and asthma are the most prevalent of all chronic diseases, with asthma alone affecting nearly three million Canadians. In 2000 asthma was responsible for over 31,000 hospital admissions in Canada.i Health Canada ‘s report: The Economic Burden of Illness in Canada 1998, estimated the total direct and indirect costs of respiratory disease in Canada to be more than $13 billion with direct health care costs accounting for $8.5 billion.

Review and approval of new drugs takes significantly longer in Canada compared to the United States. A new study published in the Annals of Pharmacotherapy compares new drug approval times in Canada and the United States and examines whether faster, more efficient reviews have an impact on drug safety.