Medical profiteering: the economics of methadone dispensation.

摘要

On Sept. 9, 2008, reports in Canadian print and television media revealed that certain pharmacies in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside were paying patients up to Dollars 10 a day to pick up methadone prescriptions at their pharmacy. A media outlet enlisted the help of a patient with a hidden camera to break the story, as Vancouver physicians prescribing methadone had long complained that their patients were being manipulated by some pharmacies.1 In a neighbourhood with a high density of people addicted to opioids, methadone dispensation has become highly competitive. A pharmacy may be viewed as a competitive firm whose objective is to maximize profits, and, in the case of methadone, the profit motive is particularly strong. In Canada, community pharmacies dispense methadone daily to those in treatment who ingest the drug under pharmacist supervision (daily witnessed ingestion).