Posted by Michael Wonder on 10 Sep 2019
Erosion of physician and patient treatment choice continues - Alliance for Safe Biologic Medicines raises concerns for patients as British Columbia expands biologics forced switching policy
10 September 2019 - On 5 September, the Government of British Columbia announced that it would be forcibly switching 1,700 patients with inflammatory bowel disease from their current biologic medicine to alternative versions of the treatment, the government's choice of preferred "biosimilar" products, and cease the reimbursement of their current biologic medicine.
The announcement follows a 27 May mandate that 20,700 arthritis, psoriasis, and diabetes patients would be forcibly switched from their existing medicines to the government's choice of preferred biosimilar products. This forced switching policy was presented as a trade-off for the government's agreement to grant reimbursement for new innovative medicines, although no new inflammatory bowel disease medications have been added to the B.C. public formulary.
The policy disregards important scientific considerations for patients on biologic medicines and most alarmingly, eliminates patient choice, according to the Alliance for Safe Biologic Medicines.
