card programs,” Gillis said.
These misconceptions tend to centre on
the commercial side of pharmaceutical
products, but Gillis said, “Health care in-
cludes commercial aspects, but that’s just
a fact of every industry throughout the
world and the fact that there is a commer-
cial aspect to health care doesn’t have to
be a negative thing.”
But the increasing costs associated with
health care are a reason for concern. On
the one hand, new medications are com-
ing into the market and improving health
outcomes. However, they’re very costly to
develop since they target specific disease
states and certain populations of patients
diagnosed with that disease. “Per patient
cost for therapy is getting higher and high-
er. The good news is there is innovation in
medicine. The bad news is it’s expensive,”
Gillis said.
A numbers of parties, like individuals, gov-
ernments and insurance companies, are
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