December 15, 2009 (Ben Shenouda)

It is ironic that Adam Radwanski is sympathetic to the McGuinty government, saying that it faces a “massive public relations machine” as it prepares to slash funding for community pharmacies.

The McGuinty government is a massive public relations machine. They wasted hundreds of millions of dollars on the eHealth scandal, giving millions to consultants friendly to their government. They spent $750,000 of taxpayers’ money to have consultants write a report on the drug system that they refuse to share with the public. They have public relations consultants inside the government, and outside public relations consultants hired by the government. If Ontario cuts pharmacy funding, it is the small independent pharmacies that will face going out of business. Not the chains.

The McGuinty government can spend all it wants on public relations. When my patients need help dealing with an aging parent’s diabetes, or advice on how to control their sick baby’s fever, they turn to me, and I help them. That’s better than public relations, because it’s real.

Ben Shenouda, president, Independent Pharmacists of Ontario