Where's Helen??

In the days since the government announced new regulations regarding pharmacy funding in Ontario, one voice has been remarkably silent.

Ontario’s drug czar, the all-powerful Executive Officer of the ODB, Helen Stevenson has been silent for most of this campaign. There was the one sick attempt to gain sympathy by trotting out the story of this poor single mother receiving “death threats” from pharmacists. That story quickly died when someone else pointed out that it is actually a 4-year old story, and the accused were never confirmed to actually be pharmacists, and charges were never actually laid. I believe she also proclaimed her support for the government plan a few weeks ago, but she really hasn’t been heard from at all over the past month.

I have to think that the move to keep Helen on ice has been calculated by the Liberals. Even the bumbling Liberals have to recognize that the public knowing too much about Ms. Stevenson would not help their case. Just for fun, let’s take a look at a few fun facts about Helen Stevenson.

1. Prior to her appointment as Ontario’s Drug Czar, or whatever her official title is, Helen Stevenson, through her consulting group Savattuq Inc. received over $1 Million in untendered contracts from the Ontario Liberal government to devise the plan to destroy pharmacy practice in the province. http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2009/11/10/untendered-contract-health-ontario123.html

2. Helen Stevenson, the bureaucrat appointed by the Ontario government to run the Ontario Drug Benefit program, has a Masters of Science in Management degree and a Bachelor of Commerce degree.

3. Helen Stevenson, the bureaucrat with no health care training appointed by the Ontario government to run the Ontario Drug benefit plan received a salary of $280,524.11 in 2009.

4. On numerous occasions, Helen Stevenson, the unqualified, overpaid bureaucrat appointed by the Ontario government to run the Ontario Drug Benefit program has listed drugs against the recommendation of the Committee to evaluate drugs after “pricing agreements” were worked out with the manufacturer. http://www.health.gov.on.ca/english/providers/program/drugs/ced_rec_table.html.

The untendered contracts are fairly old news with the Liberals. They claim to have cleaned the system up since being exposed through the e-health scandal. I would think many Ontarians would find it interesting that this consultant, who had been receiving exorbitant consulting fees from the Liberal government suddenly found herself making exorbitant salaries from the public purse in a position for which she really had no relevant training or experience.

It is even more interesting that Helen Stevenson has the power to single-handedly decide whether drugs will be listed on the Ontario Drug Benefit formulary, yet has no qualifications or experience actually delivering health care services. This is one of the most powerful bureaucrats in the Ministry of Health- and she has absolutely NO QUALIFICATIONS for the position.

There is a committee established to review new drug submissions and recommend coverage based on a variety of measures- efficacy, safety, value, etc. This committee is made up of professionals who actually have the relevant knowledge necessary to make recommendations regarding drug coverage. I cannot believe the number of “do not cover” recommendations made by the committee that were overturned by Helen Stevenson after “pricing agreements” were established.

It seems that the only requirement to have a drug listed on the Ontario Drug Benefit formulary is deep pockets (or the ability to train a pit-bull.) You don’t have to have a drug that is actually superior to anything else on the formulary, or innovative in any way, since the person making the listing decisions doesn’t know what “evidence” is anyway. All you need to do is charm your way into a “pricing agreement” with the EO.

Of course, drug manufacturers are no fools, so they must be working the cost of their “pricing agreement” with Helen into the overall cost of the drug, thus artificially increasing the cost of brand name medication. This means that Ontarians, particularly those with no drug coverage, are paying too much for their brand name drugs. I wonder if Deb Matthews knows about this? Sounds to me like something she’d be against...

Shouldn’t there be more outrage with this situation?

We are paying a woman with no experience or training in delivering health care, hundreds of thousands of dollars every year to make unilateral decisions that affect the health of thousands of us daily. Health care decisions, like listing certain medications, should be made by the experts, and not Helen Stevenson. There should be very compelling reasons for decisions of the committee to be overturned by the EO- and secret deals worked out in Helen’s private office should not be one of them. Pricing negotiations should only take place after it has been established that there is a therapeutic benefit to listing the drug on the ODB plan.

I have no doubt the whole Helen Stevenson era will end as another Liberal government scandal. There is so much potential for corruption in the current system. The Liberal government has concentrated too much power in the hands of this overpaid, under-qualified, heartless bureaucrat. In fact, I can smell the stench of corruption from miles away.

I think I understand now why Helen has been keeping a low profile throughout this campaign. It is certainly not in her best interests to have the Ontario public know what that ridiculous salary actually pays for. I am looking forward with great anticipation to the day this fraud is exposed for what she really is. Hopefully there will still be pharmacists in this province to witness her downfall.