The gap between the number of deaths in the "most materially deprived areas" of the province and those in the most well-off areas is "huge," said lead author and Ottawa-based family doctor Austin Zygmunt.

Researchers are developing increasingly sophisticated tools to estimate how long someone has to live.

Canada is still paying far more than other industrialized countries for generic drugs, despite recent efforts by the provinces and territories to cuts costs by bulk-buying six particularly costly medications.