B.C. arthritis drug access rated low

From the Vancouver Sun:
B.C. ranks toward the bottom of the heap when it comes to providing Pharmacare drug coverage to those with crippling forms of arthritis, an advocacy group for patients said Monday.

The group initially gave the province an F, but upgraded that to a D when it learned the government announced last month it would cover one of the drugs, Humira, for psoriatic arthritis.

The report by Arthritis Consumer Experts initially ranked B.C. with Nunavut, the Northwest Territories, Manitoba and Prince Edward Island. But with the upgrade, B.C. abruptly moved up to join Yukon in a still-less-than-stellar category near the bottom of all provinces. Quebec had the highest grade -- B-plus -- followed by Ontario with a B. ...more