Who decides what drugs are paid for by the provincial programs (ODB, Trillium, NDFP)?
The final funding decision is made by the Executive Officer (EO) of the Ministry’s Ontario Public Drug Programs, based on a recommendation from the Committee to Evaluate Drugs (CED), the independent expert advisory committee to the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care. The recommendation about whether to fund both oral and intravenous cancer drugs, as with any drug, must be based on the degree of medical benefit they provide weighed against their cost. For cancer drugs, this is done through a subcommittee made of members of the CED and experts from CCO, which include cancer specialists, physicians, health economists, pharmacists and ethicists. The joint CED/CCO subcommittee looks at the evidence on a drug’s clinical and cost-effectiveness, and makes a recommendation to the CED. In turn, the CED makes a recommendation to the Executive Officer whether a drug should be funded. This process ensures that the decisions are based on the best available scientific evidence.
