CADTH Appoints New Chair and First Public Members to the Canadian Expert Drug Advisory Committee (CEDAC)

October 18, 2006

University of Calgary Medical Specialist to Head National Expert Advisory Committee

OTTAWA — The Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH) today announced the appointment of Dr. Braden Manns as the new Chair of its Canadian Expert Drug Advisory Committee (CEDAC).

A member of the committee since its inception in 2003, Dr. Manns is a specialist in kidney diseases at the University of Calgary Medicine and Community Health Sciences departments. Respected for his broad understanding of the role of economic evaluation in pharmaceutical policy and decision making, he holds a Masters in Health Economics from York University in England, and is also a past member of the Expert Drug Evaluation and Therapeutics Committee for Alberta Health and Wellness.

“I am pleased to accept the role of CEDAC Chair,” said Dr. Manns. “I am proud of the quality of the recommendations issued by CEDAC so far and the committee’s contribution to evidence-based decision making within Canada’s public drug plans.”

Dr. Jill Sanders, President and Chief Executive Officer of CADTH, expressed thanks on behalf of CADTH's Board of Directors to outgoing CEDAC Chair, Dr. Andreas Laupacis, for his expertise and guidance through the critical, formative stages of the Common Drug Review (CDR) and CEDAC.

“Since its inception, the Common Drug Review has successfully delivered on its original mandate of conducting objective, rigorous and timely reviews of new drugs, and providing formulary listing recommendations to Canada’s public drug plans. It is in large part due to Dr. Laupacis’ involvement that CADTH’s CDR program and CEDAC are well-respected nationally and internationally today. We thank Andreas for providing us with such a solid foundation.”

In addition to the appointment of Dr. Manns, four new committee members, including two public members, were named to the 13-person committee. The selections were approved by CADTH’s Board of Directors at its meeting last week in Charlottetown, P.E.I.

One of Dr. Laupacis’ key concerns as CEDAC Chair had been the lack of public members on the committee. “I am extremely proud of the efforts of each CEDAC member and the committee’s record of recommendations to date,” said Dr. Laupacis. “But I am particularly gratified that the public will now have representation on the committee. With the high price of many new drugs, it is increasingly important that the public viewpoint is represented when CEDAC considers issues relating to equitable access to medications. ”

The appointment of two public members to CEDAC is the first step in CADTH’s public involvement initiatives. These members, selected from a diverse group of applicants, are expected to represent the broader public interest, and to serve in the capacity as a member of the general public; not as a representative of any specific interest group, or organization. These members have full CEDAC membership, with similar responsibilities and expectations, and are subject to the same terms and conditions as other committee representatives.

The four new CEDAC members appointed at the CADTH Board of Directors meeting on October 12 include the following:

• Mr. Brad Neubauer (public member) – a rancher and businessman with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science and Philosophy. Mr. Neubauer has been actively involved as a member of the public in health care, and has served as a member of local and provincial bioethics and research ethics committees.
• Ms. Nancy McColl (public member) – a teacher of Creative Arts and English with the Ottawa-Carleton District School Board. Ms. McColl has served as a member of the Health Products and Food Branch Public Advisory Committee at Health Canada and was recently invited to attend the Expert Advisory Panel on the safety and effectiveness of silicone gel-filled breast implants, and provided advice as an independent public member.
• Dr. Malcolm Man-Son-Hing – a geriatrician at The Ottawa Hospital, and an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa. Dr. Man-Son-Hing has appointments at the Élisabeth Bruyère Research Institute and the Ottawa Health Research Institute, and is Director of Research for the Division of Geriatric Medicine at the University of Ottawa. He holds a Master’s degree in Epidemiology and is currently a member of Ontario’s Committee to Evaluate Drugs.
• Dr. Shailendra Verma – an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Ottawa, and a medical oncologist at the Ottawa Hospital Regional Cancer Centre. Dr. Verma is involved in a wide range of clinical research projects in oncology, including the evaluation of the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of drug therapy. He is also actively involved in Cancer Care Ontario, as Chair or member of a number of disease site, communications, and ethics committees.

The Canadian Expert Drug Advisory Committee (CEDAC) is an independent advisory body with expertise in drug therapy and drug evaluation. The committee’s approach is evidence-based and considers the clinical effects and cost effectiveness of drugs compared with other available therapies. CEDAC formulary listing recommendations are provided by CADTH to the participating federal, provincial and territorial publicly funded drug plans.

The Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH), formerly known as the Canadian Coordinating Office for Health Technology Assessment (CCOHTA), is a national body that provides credible, impartial advice and evidence-based information about the effectiveness and efficiency of drugs and other health technologies to Canadian health care decision makers. CADTH is governed by a 13-member jurisdictional Board of Directors, which reports to the Conference of Federal, Provincial and Territorial Deputy Ministers of Health. Web: www.cadth.ca.

For more information on the Common Drug Review or CEDAC contact:

Sandy Fox, Senior Communications Officer, Common Drug Review
Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health
Tel: (613) 226-2553 E-mail: sandyf@cadth.ca

For more information on CADTH’s public involvement initiatives contact:

Janet Crain, Senior Communications Advisor
Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health
Tel: (613) 226-2553 E-mail: janetc@cadth.ca