Health committee  I think Dr. Bennett's comments and her colleague's questions speak to communication. One of the difficulties we have is the number and volume of communications. I can get up to about 80 communications a month on drug- and product-related issues. They're opened, but whether they're read to a large extent depends on context, because they tend to send everything to everyone.

Health committee  Thank you very much. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. On behalf of the Canadian Medical Association and our more than 67,000 physician members across Canada, I welcome the opportunity to participate in your committee's study on post-market surveillance of prescription drugs.

Health committee  I think you have to bear in mind the comments of Mr. Upshall about research and pharmaceuticals. We had some data presented to the CMA by an expert in genomics that suggested that the biological companies had three main areas of interest in their research programs that they were expending a vast amount of money on.

Health committee  I have no preconceived ideas. I think you would need to involve the individuals concerned and perhaps make sure that whatever.... The prime thing is that it has to be transparent. It has to be visible to all. I think these appeals have to be along the same lines as the drugs and the mechanisms that CDR, or whatever it's called, will use.

Health committee  I think the answer to that is that it depends. If you put in place an evaluation process, you will answer that question. And if CDR works, that's fine; if not, find out what's wrong with it and fix it.

Health committee  I will just speak on a very local basis, and perhaps I'll let Briane Scharfstein answer the more national question. On a local basis, our problem is on a provincial level, with trying to get what we call special authorizations in the province.

Health committee  And the difficulty there is that there's a feeling amongst physicians that this is an economic rationing exercise rather than necessarily one that's focused on outcomes, because the data just don't seem to be there to support the outcome issue. But perhaps Briane has a better national perspective.

Health committee  Well, in no particular order, the view of the Canadian Medical Association is that whatever drug review exists, it exists as an informative exercise based on outcomes, so it's evidence-based. The funding is a separate issue, which is a provincial-territorial responsibility, but the idea behind this is to produce a level of drugs that are generally accepted as being best in class, with some alternatives to allow for flexibility.

Health committee  Thank you, Mr. Chair. The Canadian Medical Association represents more than 65,000 physicians in Canada, and pharmaceutical issues play a critical part in the everyday practices of these physicians. To help Canada's doctors better serve and treat patients, the CMA is developing a growing body of policy on pharmaceutical issues.