Canadian OTC Cost Savings: Study

The use of over-the-counter antihistamines saves Canada's federal health care system around C$50 million ($36.6 million) a year, even though these products represent less than 3% of all self-medication in the country, according to the first study on the economic benefits of OTCs to be done in an entirely Canadian context.

The study, conducted in 1995 by researchers at Queen's University, Kingston, Ontario, found that savings made by the province resulting from the use of OTC antihistamines was C$16 million in 1994. C$11.6 million of this was associated with lower physician billings and pharmacy dispensing fees, with another C$4.4 million saved to consumers from the reduced time needed for physician visits and to obtain prescriptions, David Skinner, president of the National Drug Manufacturers Association of Canada told a recent Drug Information Association meeting in Mexico City.

Another study has been conducted this year, into the use of the H2 antagonist famotidine. The researchers here estimated that 38% of the population have gastrointestinal problems, that 26% of these see a doctor, and that 30% of patients seeing a doctor have symptoms treatable by self-medication. If 30% of the patients currently receiving prescription H2 antagonists were switched to OTC use, the government could save around C$18 million a year in drug costs and dispensing fees, the researchers believe. Moreover, they estimated that provincial health plans spend C$63-C$126 million per year on physicians' fees for common gastrointestinal complaints, and that the potential savings here are C$16.8 million in Ontario, and nearly C$50 million for the whole of Canada.