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... The Globe and Mail: Drugs for cancer easy to get in B.C.

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Report card finds patients in Ontario, PEI have poorest access to new medications By LISA PRIEST Wednesday, February 1, 2006 Page A8 Access to cancer drugs varies dramatically by province, with British Columbia providing the quickest access to the most medications, according to a report card on the cancer system.That contrasts with Ontario, where cumbersome review processes have made obtaining some of the newer cancer drugs a "nightmare," Kong Khoo, a Kelowna-based medical oncologist, told a packed news conference in Toronto yesterday.

"There's a huge amount of paperwork and difficulty accessing these drugs," Dr.

Khoo said in releasing the Cancer Advocacy Coalition of Canada annual report card.

The coalition's review found that of the 24 cancer drugs studied, all of which represented key advances, B.C.

covers the cost of providing 21 of them.

In Ontario, only six such drugs had approved funding and Prince Edward Island was the lowest of any province with only four fully funded drugs.

Advertisements In Ontario, for example, Velcade does not have full, approved funding to treat a relapse of multiple m...

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