Proposed changes to the province’s Prescription Drugs Cost Assistance Act would strengthen monitoring of the prescribing of narcotics and other controlled drugs, Health Minister Theresa Oswald announced.
“These changes build on Manitoba’s recent efforts to improve prescribing and dispensing of potentially dangerous prescription drugs such as OxyContin,” said Oswald. “By working with the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba to strengthen the checks and balances currently in place, we will help ensure that only people for whom these kinds of drugs were intended have access to them.”
The proposed changes would enable regulatory bodies such as the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Manitoba to work with Manitoba Health to monitor the prescribing practices of its members.
The amendments would also expand the mandate of an advisory committee of experts known as the Manitoba Drug Standards and Therapeutics Committee (MDSTC). Currently the MDSTC provides advice on costs and benefits of potential additions to the provincial drug formulary to assist Manitoba Health in determining eligible drug benefits available to Manitobans through government programs. The proposed changes would allow MDSTC to retroactively review drugs already on the formulary to improve effective use through education.
Earlier this year, Manitoba announced a comprehensive strategy specifically targeting OxyContin that included moving it to part three of the Provincial Drug Program Formulary, initiating an education campaign and providing training intended to increase the number of physicians with a methadone licence.
