XPost: can.politics, ont.politics, bc.politics   
   XPost: nb.general   
   From: {~_~}@nyet.ca   
      
   That's been the Harper program for many, many health-related industries.   
     And these private, for-profit industries are taking advantage.   
   By saving money - and killing Canadians.   
   _________________________________________________   
      
   THE CANADIAN PRESS - Wednesday, April 2, 2014   
      
   Report on diluted chemotherapy drugs places blame with Medbuy   
      
      
   TORONTO -- National group purchasing organization Medbuy is ultimately   
   responsible for 1,202 cancer patients in Ontario and New Brunswick   
   receiving diluted chemotherapy drugs in 2012, an Ontario legislative   
   committee has concluded.   
      
   The company didn't do its due diligence in arranging a $2.6-million   
   contract with Marchese Health Care, which provided the diluted drug   
   mixtures, the all-party committee said in a report released late Tuesday.   
      
   Extra saline in the bags containing cyclophosphamide and gemcitabine,   
   which were prepared by its subsidiary Marchese Hospital Solutions,   
   effectively watered down the prescribed drug concentrations by up to 10   
   per cent.   
   Related Stories   
      
   The discovery that some hospitals in Ontario and New Brunswick were   
   unknowingly using watered-down chemotherapy drugs has not only led to   
   worry and anger among patients, it’s also prompted plans for lawsuits.   
      
   The hospitals that received the drugs weren't aware that the bags   
   contained extra saline and didn't adjust the doses accordingly.   
      
   Medbuy, which arranged the contract on behalf of the hospitals, didn't   
   specify the drug concentration in the finished product, which led to the   
   confusion between the hospitals and Marchese.   
      
   The problem was only caught when a pharmacy assistant at a Peterborough,   
   Ont., hospital that had just started using the Marchese products noticed   
   that the label only listed the amount of the drug in the bag, not the   
   final concentration of the drug per millilitre of saline.   
      
   Medbuy had a whole stable of licensed pharmacists who oversaw the   
   contract process, but failed to notice the contract's lack of clarity,   
   the report said.   
      
   The document also raised concerns about the financial practices of group   
   purchasing organizations like Medbuy, saying it was unable to follow the   
   public money that went to the company.   
      
   Medbuy works under contract to health care organizations which make up   
   both its membership and its shareholders, the report said.   
      
   Hospitals don't pay Medbuy directly for its services, said NDP health   
   critic and committee member France Gelinas.   
      
   Rather, Medbuy gets a "rebate" -- what Gelinas called a kickback -- from   
   the pharmacy based on how much is spent on their contracts. It "helps   
   themselves to whatever they need," which is supposed to offset its   
   operating expenses, and gives the rest to the hospital.   
      
   "We tried really hard to follow the money," she said. "It was impossible   
   to see where the money went back, was it used for patient care -- I have   
   no idea."   
      
   In 2012, Medbuy's members spent $647 million on contracts, the report   
   said. Medbuy's annual budget is in the range of $7 million.   
      
   The committee said it was skeptical that Medbuy operates like a   
   not-for-profit and doesn't retain earnings.   
      
   It was told by Medbuy that the company had five employees that made more   
   than $100,000 a year, the report said. In fact, it was 17 employees and   
   the committee was "disturbed by the discrepancy."   
      
   Medbuy said Tuesday it has "always operated as though we were a   
   not-for-profit despite our legal incorporation."   
      
   The board of directors is "in the process of reviewing changes to our   
   legal status to bring it in line with our long-standing practice of   
   retaining no profits or earnings," CEO Kent Nicholson said in a statement.   
      
   The report revealed that Marchese's offer -- which was substantially   
   lower than the more experienced company that had previously held the   
   contract -- included a $20,000 donation to a Medbuy fund for "healthcare   
   industry initiatives."   
      
   Such contributions were encouraged by Medbuy in its request for   
   proposals and were used in scoring the company's submission, the   
   committee found.   
      
   Medbuy told the committee that it chose Marchese because it had better   
   labelling, Gelinas said. But she believes the decision was money driven,   
   as Marchese was offering to provide the product for a lower price.   
      
   Among its six recommendations which also include standardized labelling,   
   the committee is urging the Ontario government to provide oversight of   
   group purchasing organizations like Medbuy, such as salary disclosure   
   and audits by Ontario's auditor general.   
      
   Health Minister Deb Matthews said she's introduced legislation that   
   would authorize the College of Pharmacists to inspect, license and set   
   standards for hospital pharmacies.   
      
   But Gelinas said the bill doesn't provide oversight to the part of the   
   system that failed those cancer patients -- the group purchasing   
   organizations -- or change the way they do business.   
      
   "This idea of having public money being kicked back to a private   
   organization did not sit well with any of the committee members," she said.   
      
   Rather than using a rebate system, hospitals should pay group purchasing   
   organizations directly for the services they provide, she said.   
      
   "Those are pretty substantive changes to the way business is done,"   
   Gelinas said.   
      
   "But what happened -- this incident with 1,200 people -- I think   
   requires that kind of change so that we can look those people in the   
   eyes and say it won't happen again."   
      
      
      
   Read more:   
   http://atlantic.ctvnews.ca/report-on-diluted-chemotherapy-drugs-   
   laces-blame-with-medbuy-1.1757111#ixzz2xmShTGuS   
      
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