Quebec medication policy change to benefit those with Crohn’s one step closer

Patient at an infusion clinic

We are pleased by the recent recommendation of Québec’s Institut national d’excellence en santé et en services sociaux (INESSS) to the Minister of Health and Social Services to implement a medication policy change that will benefit patients with Crohn’s disease. 

Specifically, INESSS has recommended that patients with Crohn’s no longer be required to fail first on corticosteroids or immunosuppressants before starting three specific biologic drug treatments. This policy was changed for those with ulcerative colitis in May 2023.

We believe the updated policy will benefit people living with Crohn’s in the province as they will be spared the side effects and risks associated with corticosteroids or immunomodulators. This policy is a step to giving the clinician the ability to prescribe the right treatment to the right person at the right time. 

We look forward to the Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec, which is responsible for the management of the Québec Health Insurance Plan and of the Public Prescription Drug Insurance Plan, adopting this policy change in the near future. 

We are hopeful that other provinces will also implement similar policies.

  • Canada has among the highest incidence rates of Crohn's and colitis in the world.
  • 1 in 140 Canadians lives with Crohn’s or colitis.
  • Families new to Canada are developing these diseases for the first time.
  • Incidence of Crohn’s in Canadian kids under 10 has doubled since 1995.
  • People are most commonly diagnosed before age 30.

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