Quebec will not cover Health Canada-approved Alzheimer’s drug

Quebec will not publicly fund the first Health Canada-approved treatment for the underlying cause of Alzheimer’s disease after an expert committee concluded its benefits are too modest to improve patients’ lives.

The negative recommendation from Quebec’s National Institute for Excellence in Health and Social Services, known by the French acronym INESSS, marks the first time a government advisory body in Canada has evaluated whether the medication, lecanemab, should be paid for out of the public purse.