Layton renews call for drug plan

From the Toronto Star:
In addition to lost paycheques, the disappearance of manufacturing jobs can mean the loss of benefit plans that helped workers pay for vital drugs, NDP Leader Jack Layton says.

As a result, many cash-strapped households are cutting back on needed prescription drugs, he said.

"They then have to say `no' to prescriptions that their doctors say they're supposed to have. In the end, they'll end up in an emergency ward and there's no economy there," Layton said in an interview.

During a swing through Northern Ontario yesterday, Layton renewed his call for a national drug plan that would help Canadians cover the costs of their prescriptions, saying the program is needed now more than ever.

"People are deeply concerned about it, as they feel themselves slipping into poverty, as they have to move to minimum wage part-time jobs, longer and longer jobs and no benefits," he said in a telephone interview. ...more