Cancer patients criticize Ontario's new limits on out-of-country drug coverage

The new rule

Ontario will now fund drug treatments abroad only if they are already funded in the province but temporarily unavailable or delayed there.

Health Minister Sylvia Jones changed the rules after a 37-year-old patient, Alex Shved, won a court challenge against his out-of-country denial last month.

This change supports a consistent, fair and transparent approach to funding decisions.

— Sylvia Jones, Ontario health minister

Yearly costs the province says it avoids

5.2 $ billion

The government says the rule avoids up to $5.2 billion a year in costs; an official said that is the cost if Ontario stopped negotiating drug prices altogether.

And us?

Patients with Stage 4 cancer say the rule is too narrow: in some of their cases, the drug's maker has no plans to seek approval in Canada at all.