Michael Law

Mike

Faculty, Centre for Health Services and Policy Research
Canada Research Chair in Access to Medicines
Professor, UBC School of Population and Public Health

michael.law@ubc.ca
(604) 822-3514

Profile

Dr. Michael Law holds the Canada Research Chair in Access to Medicines, and is a professor in the Centre for Health Services and Policy Research, School of Population and Public Health, at the University of British Columbia.

Michael’s research program focuses on pharmaceutical policy. His work focuses on access to and the use of prescription drugs, including the affordability of prescription drugs, private drug insurance, generic drug pricing, and the impact of pharmacist prescribing. His research program has attracted more than $2.5 million in research funding, including 4 operating grants from CIHR as principal investigator. Currently, his program of research includes studies in several countries, including Canada, Rwanda, Uganda, Namibia, and Colombia.

He has been published in leading medical journals, including BMJ, Archives of Internal Medicine, and CMAJ. This work has been featured in news media such as New Scientist, Forbes, the Globe & Mail, and USA Today. He has also authored commentaries that have appeared in the Toronto Star and Vancouver Sun. His research has had a major impact on generic drug pricing in Canada, leading to policy changes that have saved governments the country more than $100 million every year.

Since his appointment at UBC he has received several notable awards, including a Canada Research Chair (2015), a Distinguished Achievement Award from the UBC Faculty of Medicine (2012), the Labelle Lectureship at McMaster University, the 2011 Paper of the Year Award from the CIHR Institute for Health Services and Policy Research, a Canadian Institutes of Health Research New Investigator Award, and a Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research Scholar Award.

In 2015, he taught one of UBC’s first edX.org Professional Education courses on Interrupted Time Series Analysis.

Prior to joining UBC, he completed a PhD in Health Policy at Harvard University and a post-doctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School, where he trained in research methods and statistics. He has also completed an MSc from the London School of Economics, and worked as a research associate at the University of Auckland, New Zealand.

Education

PhD, Health Policy, Harvard University, 2008
MSc, Health Population and Society, London School of Economics, 2002
BA&Sc, Arts & Sciences Program, McMaster University, 2001

Research Interests

  • Pharmaceutical policy
  • Observational studies
  • Medication adherence and health outcomes
  • Routine data in lower-income countries

Current Projects

  • Cost-related nonadherence to prescription drugs: A multi-method study
  • Impact of physician detailing and sampling for generic atorvastatin

Affiliations and Awards

  • Career Investigator Scholar Award, Michael Smith Foundation for Health Research, 2012-2020
  • New Investigator Award, CIHR, 2010-2015

Current Graduate Students

  • Alexandra Lukey, PhD Student, School of Population and Public Health
  • Richard Musoke, PhD Student, School of Population and Public Health
  • Marie Paul Nisingizwe, PhD Student, School of Population and Public Health
  • Maryann Rogers, MSc Student, School of Population and Public Health
  • Hinda Ruton, PhD Student, School of Population and Public Health
  • Kartik Sharma, MSc Student, School of Population and Public Health

Courses Currently Taught

Recent Publications

Itiola AJ, Cheng L, Zhang W, Gomes T, Shah BR, Law MR. The Impact of Blood Glucose Test Strips Reimbursement Limits on Utilization, Costs, and Health Care Use in British Columbia. Can J Diabetes. 2023 Aug 21:S1499-2671(23)00193-4. doi: 10.1016/j.jcjd.2023.08.005. Online ahead of print. Read more

Zeitouny S, Cheng L, Wong ST, Tadrous M, McGrail K, Law MR. Prevalence and predictors of primary nonadherence to medications prescribed in primary care. CMAJ. 2023 Aug 8;195(30):E1000-E1009. doi: 10.1503/cmaj.221018. Read more

Romanowski K, Law MR, Karim ME, Campbell JR, Hossain MB, Gilbert M, Cook VJ, Johnston JC. Healthcare utilization after respiratory tuberculosis: a controlled interrupted time series analysis. Clin Infect Dis. 2023 May 9:ciad290. doi: 10.1093/cid/ciad290. Online ahead of print. Read more

Persaud N, Bedard M, Boozary A, Glazier RH, Gomes T, Hwang SW, Jüni P, Law MR, Mamdani M, Manns B, Martin D, Morgan SG, Oh P, Pinto AD, Shah BR, Sullivan F, Umali N, Thorpe KE, Tu K, Wu F, Laupacis A; CLEAN Meds study team. Effect of Free Medicine Distribution on Health Care Costs in Canada Over 3 Years: A Secondary Analysis of the CLEAN Meds Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA Health Forum. 2023 May 5;4(5):e231127. doi: 10.1001/jamahealthforum.2023.1127. Read more

Rebić N, Law MR, Cragg J, Brotto LA, Ellis U, Garg R, Park JY, De Vera MA. "What's sex and gender got to do with it?" A scoping review of sex and gender-based analysis in pharmacoepidemiologic studies of medication adherence. Value Health. 2023 Apr 15:S1098-3015(23)02559-7. doi: 10.1016/j.jval.2023.04.002. Online ahead of print. Read more

Morrow RL, Mintzes B, Gray G, Law MR, Garrison S, Dormuth CR. Public reporting of clinical trial findings as an ethical responsibility to participants: a qualitative study. BMJ Open. 2023 Mar 21;13(3):e068221. doi: 10.1136/bmjopen-2022-068221. Read more

Nethery E, Law MR, Kotaska A, Janssen PA, Hutcheon JA. The effect of changing screening practices and demographics on the incidence of gestational diabetes in British Columbia, 2005–2019. CMAJ. 2023 Mar 20;195(11):E396-E403. https://doi.org/10.1503/cmaj.221404. Read more

Fejfar D, Andom AT, Msuya M, Jeune MA, Lambert W, Varney PF, Aron MB, Connolly E, Juárez A, Aranda Z, Niyigena A, Cubaka VK, Boima F, Reed V, Law MR, Grépin KA, Mugunga JC, Hedt-Gauthier B, Fulcher I. The impact of COVID-19 and national pandemic responses on health service utilisation in seven low- and middle-income countries. Glob Health Action. 2023 Mar 7;16(1):2178604. doi: 10.1080/16549716.2023.2178604. Read more

Nethery E, Hutcheon JA, Kotaska A, Law MR, Janssen P. Weight gain in pregnancy and infant birthweight after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic: an interrupted time series analysis. Am J Clin Nutr. 2023 Feb;117(2):364-372. doi: 10.1016/j.ajcnut.2022.09.001. Read more

Nisingizwe MP, Makuza JD, Janjua NZ, Bansback N, Hedt-Gauthier B, Serumondo J, Remera E, Law MR. The Cascade of Care for Hepatitis C Treatment in Rwanda: A Retrospective Cohort Study of the 2017–2019 Mass Screening and Treatment Campaign. Viruses. 2023 Feb 28;15(3):661. doi: 10.3390/v15030661. Read more

McClean AR, Cheng L, Bansback N, Clement F, Tadrous M, Harrison M, Law MR. Uptake and spending on biosimilar infliximab and etanercept after new start and switching policies in Canada: An interrupted time series analysis. Arthritis Care Res (Hoboken). 2023 Feb 8. doi: 10.1002/acr.25099. Online ahead of print. Read more

Nethery E, Hutcheon JA, Kotaska A, Law MR, Janssen PA. Trends in gestational diabetes screening practices in British Columbia from 2005-2019. J Obstet Gynaecol Can. 2023 Jan 27:S1701-2163(23)00003-8. doi: 10.1016/j.jogc.2023.01.002. Online ahead of print. Read more

Laba TL, Worthington HC, Cheng L, Chan FKI, Bansback N, Law MR. The impact of the Choosing Wisely Canada campaign on the simultaneous use of angiotensin-converting-enzyme inhibitors and angiotensin receptor blockers: interrupted time-series analysis. CMAJ Open. 2022 Dec 13;10(4):E1059-E1066. doi: 10.9778/cmajo.20210185. Print 2022 Oct-Dec. Read more

Nethery E, Hutcheon JA, Law MR, Janssen PA. Validation of Insurance Billing Codes for Monitoring Antenatal Screening. Epidemiology. 2023 Mar 1;34(2):265-270. doi: 10.1097/EDE.0000000000001569. Epub 2022 Nov 29. Read more

Tadrous M, Graili P, Hayes KN, Neville HL, Houlihan J, Clement F, Guertin JR, Law MR, Gomes T. Canadian Trends in Estimated Pharmaceutical Drug Purchases and Projections: 2023. Canadian Journal of Health Technologies. 2022 Nov; 2(11)Read more

Older publications