The new drug agency tasked with improving Canada's medication practices
A recent report calls on the newly-created Canada’s Drug Agency to implement a strategy to improve prescription medication practices
By Alexandra Keeler
As Canada moves toward establishing a national drug agency, a new report has outlined recommendations for a prescription medications strategy that the agency should be tasked with implementing.
The report, released July 26 by the Canadian Drug Agency Transition Office, calls on the newly established Canada’s Drug Agency to implement a nation-wide strategy for the appropriate use of prescription medications. The transition office is a temporary government initiative responsible for developing the drug agency’s mandate and plan.
"Part of the opioid crisis has been linked to prescribing particular medications, and the dependency that people can develop with respect to certain medications,” said Stephen Samis, chair of the Appropriate Use Advisory Committee, which helped guide the development of the medications strategy outlined in the report.
“If there's a way to help get people off of those medications in a safe and effective way, and by the use of alternatives to the medication, that's really important,” said Samis, who formerly served as deputy health minister in the Yukon.
Canada’s Drug Agency, which was first announced by Health Minister Mark Holland in December 2023, is tasked with managing and coordinating Canada’s pharmaceutical system across the provinces and territories. It has begun establishing advisory bodies, building partnerships and conducting research.
Under Canada’s proposed pharmacare legislation, the drug agency will also be responsible for identifying the essential prescription drugs to which Canadians should have access under pharmacare.
Primary care crisis
The report proposes six guiding principles for improving Canada’s prescription and medication use practices. These include providing more personalized primary care to patients, ensuring careful oversight of prescription medications and improving coordination between health-care providers.
Currently, more than one in five Canadian adults — about 6.5 million people — lack access to primary care, according to a May 2024 study in the Canadian Medical Association Journal. Primary care refers to health care that is regular and ongoing, such as doctor check-ups or management of chronic conditions.
"The crisis in primary care right now is really one of those potential barriers to people receiving appropriate medication with a provider that they have a relationship with,” said Samis.
The lack of access to primary care can lead to problems such as inconsistent prescribing, inadequate follow-up and insufficient patient education on prescription medications, the report says.
About 1.9 million Canadian seniors use at least one prescription medication inappropriately. This costs them and the health-care system an estimated $1.4 billion in direct and indirect costs, the report says.
“Benzodiazepines, sleeping pills … even things like medications that control heartburn. If people are on them for too long, [it] can have other kinds of side effects,” said Samis.
“Same thing with opioid related medications. It's really important that people have medications they need so that they don't develop dependencies.”
The report also notes that fragmented information systems and poor coordination between service providers complicate medication management — resulting in duplicate prescriptions, contradictory treatment plans and gaps in care.
“What happens often is that somebody is in primary care, and their data is over here,” said Samis. “They go into long-term care, and that information doesn't follow them. They get prescribed new things in long-term care, they go into the hospital, then the long-term care information system might not be speaking to the hospital information system.”
'Neutral space'
Samis says he is optimistic that Canada’s Drug Agency will be able to address some of the problematic medication practices identified in the report.
Samis will co-chair a new committee responsible for assisting with the implementation of the report’s recommendations.
“We have a diverse and knowledgeable group joining our newly established Appropriate Use Advisory Committee, with the inaugural meeting to take place on September 13,” a media relations spokesperson for Canada’s Drug Agency’s told Canadian Affairs in a written statement.
Samis envisions the agency as a “neutral space” to address health-care issues and resolve conflicts between governments and health-care providers.
“This approach avoids the conflicts that often arise between jurisdictions, levels of government, or between government and [health-care] providers,” he said.
This article was produced through the Breaking Needles Fellowship Program, which provided a grant to Canadian Affairs, a digital media outlet, to fund journalism exploring addiction and crime in Canada. Articles produced through the Fellowship are co-published by Break The Needle and Canadian Affairs.
Cordination of information between all health care providers is needed, with the approval of the patient/client.