TORONTO - A Shoppers Drug Mart flyer telling seniors and people covered under the Ontario Drug Benefit Plan that services they receive could be at risk due to government cuts is outrageous and misleading, the province's health minister said Friday.
Deb Matthews, who is locked in a heated battle with pharmacists over a plan to eliminate fees paid to pharmacists in order to lower the cost of generic drugs, called the insinuation an "inexcusable threat."
"It is nothing short of shameful to threaten the most vulnerable people in Ontario, people with disabilities and seniors, to treat them differently than they treat their other patients," Matthews said in an interview.
The flyer, which began circulating after the government announced its plans last week, features a photo of a senior under a heading that reads: "Your pharmacy services are at risk."
"The Ontario government has announced major funding cuts to community pharmacy which will affect services provided to all patients, especially those covered by the Ontario Drug Benefit Plan," it says.
"Though community pharmacies have absorbed these costs in order to provide the best possible patient care, further reduction in funding will put many of the services you've come to rely upon at risk."
Pharmacists, the ad says, "may have significantly less time for patient consultations and your access to valuable health advice will be diminished."
A spokeswoman for Shoppers Drug Mart denied Matthew's claims that the flyer threatens a two-tier system, saying it's simply an educational tool to help people understand the ways in which they'll be affected by changes.
"What we're trying to communicate here is that the majority of people who are on the Ontario Drug Benefit Program are seniors, and the funding that's being cut directly affects services that happen to affect seniors most," said Shoppers spokeswoman Tammy Smitham, noting that may include services like compliance packaging and free delivery.
"These are things that seniors depend on and they were previously funded by professional allowances by the government and now they're removing that funding, so it puts those services at risk."
Matthews insists the planned changes will mean more access to drugs for people on that plan, cheaper drugs for everyone, and a payment to pharmacists for the very services they are threatening to withdraw.
Matthews has said she's prepared to take on the pharmacies but also offered an olive branch on Tuesday when she suggested there could be increased funding for pharmacists who provide those services.
So far, pharmacists have shown little interest in sitting down to discuss the changes with the province.
Shoppers and Rexall have already reduced store operating hours to protest the changes. Shoppers has also taken out full page ads in newspapers encouraging consumers to visit a website -- sponsored by a group calling itself Ontario's Community Pharmacies -- and send messages to Ontario's premier and health minister to reverse the decision.
The flyer also asks customers to sign postcards available at the pharmacy counter which will be mailed to Premier Dalton McGuinty asking the government to stop the funding cuts.
There is a 30-day review period, in which the public is invited to share their input with the government.
Matthews has indicated her willingness to listen to feedback, but has also expressed her commitment to pass the legislation as it is.
