Pharmacists dial up protest against planned cuts
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Posted By VALERIE MACDONALD, NORTHUMBERLAND TODAY
Posted 3 months ago
NORTHUMBERLAND -- You may have heard the voice of Dave Watson of Port Hope Pharmacy on a recorded telephone message over the past two weeks, asking you to call Northumberland-Quinte West MPP Lou Rinaldi and request that he vote against legislation that would cut pharmacy revenues.
Call 905-372-4000 and tell Lou Rinaldi to "stop the cuts," the Watson message urges.
The dialing campaign, involving other pharmacists across Southern Ontario, started about two weeks ago and "it may go indefinitely," Watson said in an interview Monday.
Every home in this riding will get a call, Watson says of the dialing campaign.
Both he and Rinaldi say they are receiving calls because of the recorded messages. Watson says he is explaining what's happening and directing people to his coalition's website ( www.stopcuts.ca).
At issue is the money drug companies currently pay pharmacies for dispensing their generic drugs.
By eliminating these professional allowances through proposed legislation, the provincial government is expecting to reduce the cost of generic drugs paid through OHIP, through drug plans and directly by individuals, Rinaldi says.
"What I stand for is for people paying a fair price for the drugs they buy," Rinaldi says.
That's whether they pay for generic drugs directly or through a plan, he says.
But area pharmacists such as Watson say the legislation, which is awaiting third and final reading, will cost the average pharmacist $200,000 annually and government programs will only fill $25,000 of the loss.
Pharmacies will have to reduce staff and services, Ontario's community pharmacies are warning.
If the new legislation is passed, effective May 15, "I'll be reducing my staff by 50%, " Watson says. "It's as simple as that."
He may also have to "shave hours" of operation at the Walton Street business his family has owned and operated for four generations.
Rinaldi describes the ongoing telephone dialing campaign as just part of the pharmacists' "million dollar campaign."
A media campaign is also underway.
Rinaldi says he's been telling every pharmacist and pharmacy owner to get in touch with their association and to meet with Health Minister Deb Matthews to look at alternatives.
They need to go back to the negotiating table, Rinaldi says.
According to aToronto Sunreport, the Independent Pharmacists of Ontario put a new proposal to Matthews last Friday calling on the government to "reinvest about $270-million of the savings it will achieve through reform of generic drug pricing and the ban on professional allowances."
This doesn't appear acceptable to the government.
"I am disappointed that on the surface it would appear the pharmacy associations' proposal would merely ask taxpayers to replace professional allowances with higher dispensing fees while maintaining their existing profit margins," Matthews stated in a release following the meeting.
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