last december, the canadian institute for health information (CIHI) published statistics on drug spending, finding that in 2018 approximately 40% of drug spending was spent on 2% of beneficiaries. of this 2%, three out of five individuals used a drug therapy that cost C$10,000 or more per year [eg, antivirals or biologics for rheumatoid arthritis or crohn’s disease]. over the past five years, the top increases in drug spending were for drug classes with average annual costs of C$10,000 or more.
