Pharma is having a moment

It’s been a week. Canada wants more drugs. Patients want more access. Fake doctors are still a thing. And there may be a new way to ease the ER crunch.

Let’s get into it.

Canada wants a bigger hand in pharma 🔒

Parliament’s back, and Canada’s health agenda is looking pretty pharma-heavy. Health Minister Marjorie Michel plans to focus on strengthening Canada’s ability to produce affordable, competitive pharmaceutical drugs — a statement that comes approximately two months after this report.

But with the U.S. trade fight and a long list of economic and geopolitical pressures competing for Ottawa's attention, health isn’t looking like a top priority this fall. At least, that’s the case Danielle Flieler makes in this article.

More on the Health Minister's fall to-do-list: advance health data sharing across Canada through Bill S-5, the Connected Care for Canadians Act, and deliver on the promised mental health strategy for men and boys.

For patients, getting new drugs is still a struggle 🔒

Now we know that Ottawa wants to boost Canada’s pharma game. But for some Canadians, getting new drugs is still a “fail first” affair: try the cheaper, older option, prove it doesn’t work, and only then get coverage for the newer, pricer option.

The thinking is simple: save money upfront. But advocates and researchers in this article argue the delay can mean more disease, more hospital stays, and more costs for the health-care system down the road.

Minister Michel also recently told The Toronto Star she’s “very concerned” about Alberta’s Bill 11, set to start this month. and can apply penalties if the province doesn’t make changes. However, the bill was not included in the Health Minister’s list of priorities.

Some blame it on Minister Michel. Others blame it on Prime Minister Mark Carney.

Fake doctors are getting harder to spot

AI deepfakes of Canadian doctors are increasingly circulating on social media — with scammers using their voices and faces to hawk bogus health products like joint treatments, prostate treatments, and pills.

Doctors say the videos can put patients at risk, erode trust, and are frustratingly difficult to get taken down. For now, the advice from Timothy Caulfield is simple: if a doctor appears to be selling you something on social media, treat it as a red flag.

A new route around the ER

A new Toronto study suggests sending medically stable people who are intoxicated to a dedicated recovery space instead of the ER can free up hospital resources while connecting people with more appropriate support.

Over two years, the 10-bed centre handled about 4,500 visits, with paramedics spending an average of seven minutes there versus more than 34 minutes at nearby ERs. Fewer than seven per cent of patients were transferred to a hospital.

And don’t forget… ERs aren’t doing too hot right now. Canadian patients are spending an average of 14 hours in a waiting-room chair.