24 February 2020 - Prescribing cheaper medications for arthritis, diabetes or Crohn’s disease could be at odds with physicians’ legal requirement to act in patients’ best interest, say U of A legal researchers.

The Alberta government’s plan for many arthritis, diabetes and Crohn’s disease patients to switch to less expensive medications by July 1 could create legal challenges for doctors, say two researchers at the University of Alberta.

“If a physician has concerns about switching, there may be a legal obligation as a fiduciary to advocate for whatever is viewed to be in the patient’s best interest,” write Blake Murdoch and Timothy Caulfield in a study published last month in the Journal of the Canadian Association of Gastroenterology.

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