As you may be aware of, Ontario’s Liberal government has rolled out a new plan for prescriptions to children and youth under the age of 25. This, my friend’s, enrages me. The reason being? There are a few. I’m not against some prescriptions, I have used them for myself and my kid’s in the past, when it was really necessary, but now that it’s free, will our kid’s be over prescribed? Now you won’t have to think twice about whether or not to fill that prescription because it’s free! Don’t we have enough of an issue with prescribed medication, like addiction and antibiotic resistant bugs? Let’s make it even MORE accessible and start them nice and young (lots of sarcasm going on there). The problem I have with most prescribed medications is because they are used as a band aid solution. There really needs to be funding for things like Naturopathic doctor’s and other holistic practices that can actually help you with the source of the problem which could in turn make that symptom go away. When I was diagnosed with osteo-arthritis there were a couple of meds I could have gone on, but all they did was decrease pain (actually they said they MIGHT decrease the pain), harm my kidney’s and liver and therefore could potentially give me problems and other health issues in the long run. Instead, I was on a completely safe and natural supplement and used food as a way of feeling better and it worked! Imagine that?? And I’m so thankful because with food, which was the main source of pain relief for me, actually made me healthier! I’m hardly at the doctor’s spending my provinces’ money.
I feel like the Wynne government is so short sighted. Why make a population dependent on prescribed medication? In the long run wouldn’t that create other problems as they age? Ohhhh wait a second, maybe this is what’s so appealing to big pharma and why they would strike a deal with our lovely government (sorry, there’s a lot of sarcasm going on). Once those kid’s reach 25, they’re going to have to keep paying to get what they are dependent on. It looks like those extra earnings the pharma companies are going to get before they turn 25 will just keep on coming. Well played!
The reason I don’t agree with this is because there are families who are struggling with just having a roof over their head and do not have access to healthy food. These are very important in preventing the need for prescription medications. We need more funding for things like affordable food, we should be helping our farmers not these giants. This is costing Ontario $465 million!! Imagine what we could do with that, instead it will be to giving these big wigs an increase in their yearly bonus. Did you know that there is NO room in the budget to go towards affordable housing?? I just feel like Wynne’s priorities are not in the right order. To make it clear, I really hope that the people who truly need prescriptions for their kid’s can have access to them, no matter their income, but let’s try as parent’s to use other ways to heal and help our kid’s stay healthy and happy long term, because our government is not going to do it for us.
For more details on the new drug plan please click on the link: https://news.ontario.ca/opo/en/2017/04/free-prescription-medications-for-children-and-youth-through-ohip.html
Amy rempel - making you healthier and wealthier 