The Association's Executive Director Paul Blanchard is answering criticism from healthcare ethicist Dr. Tim Christie about that fee being too high since methadone itself costs between 35 and 40 cents.
Blanchard accuses Dr. Christie of not assigning any value to the role pharmacists are playing in the programme. He points out there's considerable interaction between the pharmacists and those people taking the methadone for their addictions and if a mistake is made, it can cost someone their life.
Blanchard also argues without the participation of pharmacists, there would be no methadone programme in Saint John.
He suspects Dr. Christie would like Aids Saint John to set up its own dispensary and, if that happened, he would find out about the cost of doing business.
