TORONTO - Ontario is delisting vitamin D testing for most of the population as of Dec. 1.
People with conditions such as osteoporosis, rickets, osteopenia, malabsorption syndromes and renal disease will continue to have the test covered.
In five years vitamin D tests in Ontario skyrocketed from 29,000 tests in 2004 to 700,000 in 2009.
The Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care announced their intention to delist the test in the summer, but posted formal notice to their website this week.
Ontario's move puts it in line with several other provinces -- Manitoba, Nova Scotia, Newfoundland and Labrador, Prince Edward Island and Saskatchewan -- that have made similar moves.
During a comment period the government heard from several groups saying vitamin D testing should be covered for everyone in Ontario as a means of preventing conditions such as osteoporosis, instead of limiting it to those already diagnosed.
