Spinraza has been proven to stop the progression of spinal muscular atrophy, a disease that deteriorates a person's muscles until they can’t breath. Each dose of the drug costs $125,000 and six doses are needed in the first year alone.

The proposed merger comes as the provincial government begins to follow through on its plan to reduce the number of health units in the province to 10.

If approved, the proposed changes to the government insurance program, which partly covers medical costs incurred abroad, could take effect as soon as Oct. 1.

“It was really shocking, I was really worried,” said a mother from Guelph, Ont. whose two sons were tested for HIV and hepatitis after visiting a dental clinic.

The agency that represents Canada's major pharmacies is pushing Ontario to adopt mandatory consultations for patients prescribed opiates.

Ontario is looking at the Humber River Hospital's Finch site that was closed last year to move operations to a new facility a few kilometres away, Health Minister Eric Hoskins said Wednesday. The reopened facility would be used to care for so-called alternate level of care patients, many of whom are waiting in hospital for a bed in a long-term care facility.