CDR Update — Issue 63

In This Issue

• Consultations on Patient Input — December 2009

Consultations on Patient Input — December 2009

The Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH) is inviting feedback and comments, until January 15, 2010, on an approach to incorporate patient input into the Common Drug Review (CDR) review process and the deliberations of the Canadian Expert Drug Advisory Committee (CEDAC). CADTH, CDR-participating drug plans, and CEDAC members agree that the patients’ perspective or experience of living with an illness and the impact of drug therapy on patients’ lives are important considerations for CDR reviews and CEDAC recommendations.

A working group comprising CEDAC members, drug plan representatives, and CDR staff has collaborated to propose an approach that includes: 

• Input provided by organized Canadian patient groups
• A template with specific questions and length restrictions intended to facilitate patient group submissions of pertinent content and consistent structure
• A template format, designed to meet CDR and CEDAC needs as well as the needs of some CDR-participating drug plans that are bringing patient input into their decision-making processes.

The working group was guided by the following considerations in designing the approach for patient input:

• The patient input must be provided early in the CDR review process so that outcomes and issues of importance to patients are included in the review.
• The patient involvement process should complement and not duplicate the initiatives of drug plans. It should allow for a continuum of input, beginning with the review of the drug by CDR and CEDAC and concluding with a contribution to the decision-making step by the jurisdictions.

Call for Comments

We welcome your comments on the following two documents:

• Patient Input Template
• Patient Input Guidance Document.

Please email your feedback by January 15, 2010, to cdrfeedback@cadth.ca. Your comments will be considered as we finalize the documents.