Alzheimer's Drug Therapy Initiative - Information for Pharmacists

In 2007, the Alzheimer's Drug Therapy Initiative (ADTI) was launched to gather information on the effectiveness of cholinesterase inhibitors for the treatment of mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease.

The ADTI provides eligible individuals with coverage of these medications through PharmaCare’s Special Authority process and will use the information gathered to inform future government policy on funding medications for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

Physicians are required to conduct patient assessments every 6 months and apply for Special Authority approval prior to coverage being granted. This generally takes two weeks for initial coverage requests and up to 48 hours for renewal requests.

PharmaCare is unable to provide retroactive coverage for these prescriptions so we ask that you advise your clients to check that Special Authority approval has been granted before filling their prescription.

On February 1, 2009, the rivastigmine patch was added to the list of available medications and will hopefully allow patients who are unable to tolerate the gastric side effects of cholinesterase inhibitor medication to receive treatment.

To date, over 14,000 British Columbians have been enrolled in the ADTI. In the past 6 months, an average of 315 patients per month received initial coverage, with an average of 395 patients per month renewing coverage.

As the ADTI’s Research Program progresses, we expect overall participation in the ADTI to increase, and enrolment in the Seniors’ Medication Study to rise significantly.

We appreciate the important role of pharmacists in informing patients and caregivers of the availability of PharmaCare coverage for these medications and, in particular, would like to thank pharmacists for reminding people to see their doctor before their coverage ends.

For further information, please visit the Frequently Asked Questions for Pharmacists page.