Health committee  I don't think it's within the court of patient advocates to decide public policy.

Health committee  Yes.

Health committee  The truth of the matter is we've had guidelines. I alluded to some in Quebec by way of example. It's no different from any other province, and the drug is still not funded. It's not a guarantee.

Health committee  We're trying.

Health committee  In my case, going back to 1996, it was really types of surgery and surgical delays. And there was what we call hepatic arterial infusion, a process for infusing chemo directly to the liver, that wasn't offered in Canada. So the delays were a big issue, perhaps, more so than the a

Health committee  As I said, some of it had to do with the timeliness, being available to have surgery at that time. This was at a time when--

Health committee  It was a wait time issue, for sure. And it was also an issue of treatments, which are still not available in Canada but are readily available in every major cancer centre in the United States. Dr. Knox talked about fearing what would happen in Canada when drugs such as Sutent or

Health committee  I can give you a specific answer with respect to Quebec by way of the example of one medication, Avastin. We know that Avastin has federal approval, so the safety requirements have been met and it is available. Two provinces fund it: British Columbia and Newfoundland. In Quebec,

Health committee  I think we first have to clarify the existing situation, which is that safety concerns are generally evaluated at the federal level by TPD or by BGTD at Health Canada; then the funding decisions are made on the provincial basis, and that's likely what the JODR is going to look at

Health committee  I think there's a general perception that if the CDR says no, then it's no, and if they say yes, then it's maybe.

Health committee  I don't think anybody could judge that at this particular stage. We're very early on in the process. No decisions have been rendered. No submissions have been made. In fairness to the JODR and to Dr. Sullivan, I think there's an opportunity that shouldn't be missed. Assuming tha

Health committee  My understanding is that the JODR would have the exclusive domain over oncology.

Health committee  Any panel can improve itself, there's no question about it, if they change enough. Transparency helps, perhaps, in the carefulness of the decision and in the acceptability of the decision.

Health committee  Needless to say, transparency in and of itself is not the answer. What we're looking for, of course, is easier access. So cost-effectiveness certainly has to be taken into account; we know that from experience. However, one of the experts who was speaking at the round table confe

Health committee  Certainly, getting this done on a regular basis, informally at this point, I think we rely on a lot of the information from the FDA, for example. I think there's unquestionably a possibility of working together with the other groups, such as the FDA, to consolidate the informatio