Quinn Grundy an Assistant Professor at the Lawrence Bloomberg Faculty of Nursing has received an Ontario Early Researcher Award in support of her work examining the health system impact of pharmaceutical industry patient support programs, specialty pharmacies, and private infusion care networks.
“This Award presents an incredible opportunity,” said Dr. Grundy. “Through this program of research, I prepare future nurse researchers to contribute expertise and evidence to support sustainable and equitable pharmaceutical policy development.”
Grundy’s is one of 54 projects to receive funding support from the Ontario Ministry of Colleges, Universities, Research and Security, Early Researcher Awards (ERA), which aim to advance ‘made in-Ontario’ research and innovation.
A nursing researcher and social scientist, Grundy is conducting novel research to understand the impacts of dependence on pharmaceutical companies to provide affordable access and care to people prescribed high-cost, specialty medicines. Because these programs operate as a parallel private health system, they may generate health system inefficiencies, as well as issues with access, quality, safety and care coordination.
In 2023, a study led by Grundy and published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal, found that 1 in 10 prescription drugs currently marketed in Canada have a patient support program in place, sponsored by a drug manufacturer. These programs are designed and intended to help patients initiate and sustain clinical treatment on a particular brand of drug, and are concentrated among branded, high-cost drugs, often for rare diseases.
“Without information about how these support programs are run, it can be difficult for patients to navigate their options, and for Canadians to evaluate the value of these drugs in exchange for their high cost,” says Grundy who is also the Director of the WHO Collaborating Centre for Governance, Accountability, and Transparency in the Pharmaceutical Sector.
Her upcoming research project will include a multiple qualitative case study, aimed at evaluating in-depth, the role of the pharmaceutical industry in providing care for people prescribed speciality medicines like biologics which can range as a therapy for chronic diseases, rare diseases and cancer. Grundy adds that the research will be grounded in the experience of people receiving and delivering care within the patient support programs.
The funding from the ERA allows Grundy engage nursing students as researchers on her project, enabling both undergraduate and graduate students to develop skills that will help them advance in their own research training and foster future PhD-prepared nurses.