Expensive Drugs for Rare Diseases Program

Patients living with rare diseases in B.C. may be eligible for public funding of medications.

On behalf of the Ministry of Health, the Expensive Drugs for Rare Diseases (EDRD) program team at PHSA takes care of:

Supporting and coordinating the review of patient cases by clinician expert panels and the EDRD Advisory Committee
Managing drug supply logistics
Tracking and reviewing drug spending
Monitoring and reporting on EDRD processes to support continuous quality improvement

The case review process checks clinical criteria and looks at how effective, fair and sustainable the treatments are in the health-care system.

About B.C.’s exceptional funding of EDRDs

In 2007, the Ministry of Health set up a process to handle requests for exceptional funding of EDRDs. In 2016, the day-to-day management and coordination of this program were transferred to PHSA.

Requesting exceptional funding of EDRDs

For more details about the process for requesting exceptional funding of EDRDs and to see EDRD examples, visit the Ministry of Health’s website.

Questions?

Patients with rare diseases should ask their health-care providers if they might qualify for EDRD treatment.

For general questions, email the EDRD team at PHSA Provincial Specialized Programs: PSP@phsa.ca.