Why, Mr. Smitherman?
I would like the Honourable George Smitherman, the Minister of Health and Long-Term Care for Ontario, to answer a few questions which are critical to cancer patients in this province.
Why Mr. Smitherman, does Ontario rank 9th out of 10 provinces in providing cancer patients access to new intravenous cancer drugs that can prolong and/or save their lives?
Why Mr. Smitherman, when Ontario is second in the country in the number of scanning facilities, is it at the absolute bottom of the list for number of funded medical diagnostic imaging scans?
Why Mr. Smitherman, does Ontario fund 4, from a list of 24 newer cancer drugs, when B.C. fully funds 20 of those drugs? (Other than those 4 drugs, Ontario provides ten other cancer drugs, only if the patient satisfies 31 different restrictions on eligibility or pays for the drug.)
Why Mr. Smitherman, does Ontario, with 5 medical diagnostic imaging facilities, only fund 6 scans per hundred thousand people, when Quebec, with 7 medical diagnostic imaging facilities, funds 209 scans per hundred thousand people?
Why Mr. Smitherman, does an Ontario cancer patient have restricted access to PET Scans, a critically important medical tool and the standard for cancer patients in the USA, when Quebec cancer patients have a higher level of access to the scans?
Why Mr. Smitherman, does an Ontario cancer patient have restricted access to newer life-saving drug therapies, when a B.C. cancer patient has a much higher level of access to the same drugs?
Why Mr. Smitherman?
Facts and statistics from:
Report Card on Cancer in Canada 2006
Cancer Advocacy Coalition of Canada Cancer Statistics 2007
Canadian Cancer Society
Why Mr. Smitherman, does Ontario rank 9th out of 10 provinces in providing cancer patients access to new intravenous cancer drugs that can prolong and/or save their lives?
Why Mr. Smitherman, when Ontario is second in the country in the number of scanning facilities, is it at the absolute bottom of the list for number of funded medical diagnostic imaging scans?
Why Mr. Smitherman, does Ontario fund 4, from a list of 24 newer cancer drugs, when B.C. fully funds 20 of those drugs? (Other than those 4 drugs, Ontario provides ten other cancer drugs, only if the patient satisfies 31 different restrictions on eligibility or pays for the drug.)
Why Mr. Smitherman, does Ontario, with 5 medical diagnostic imaging facilities, only fund 6 scans per hundred thousand people, when Quebec, with 7 medical diagnostic imaging facilities, funds 209 scans per hundred thousand people?
Why Mr. Smitherman, does an Ontario cancer patient have restricted access to PET Scans, a critically important medical tool and the standard for cancer patients in the USA, when Quebec cancer patients have a higher level of access to the scans?
Why Mr. Smitherman, does an Ontario cancer patient have restricted access to newer life-saving drug therapies, when a B.C. cancer patient has a much higher level of access to the same drugs?
Why Mr. Smitherman?
Facts and statistics from:
Report Card on Cancer in Canada 2006
Cancer Advocacy Coalition of Canada Cancer Statistics 2007
Canadian Cancer Society
