Sunday, March 21, 2004

From the Calgary Herald:
New pharmacy promised greater safety
The pharmacy dispensing the drugs that killed two patients at Foothills hospital was touted at its opening last year as the first-of-its-kind facility in Canada, designed to increase patient safety.

Now, the CHR's Central Production Pharmacy will likely face scrutiny in an investigation launched Friday by the Alberta College of Pharmacists into the deaths of Kathleen Prowse, 83, and a middle-aged man who both died recently after receiving intravenous drips during dialysis.

CHR's disclosure a hopeful sign (opinion)
Fear of making fatal medical mistakes -- it's more like terror, actually -- hangs over the lives of everyone in Calgary's hospital system.

And the dread is even more palpable now, after the CHR announced that two patients died after being given the wrong dialysis fluid.

From the Miami Herald:
Drug imports a reality, FDA is told
A government panel exploring whether prescription drugs can be safely imported got a clear answer Friday from consumer advocates who said Americans already are doing it to cope with skyrocketing pharmacy bills.

From Reuters:
U.S. Drugs Too Costly, Consumer Groups Tell Panel
Demand for cheaper prescription drugs from Canada will continue as long as U.S. medicines remain so expensive, consumer advocates told a federal task force examining whether safe imports are possible.

Cheaper prices would continue to be a powerful lure even if importation remains illegal, the panel was told

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