Triaminic Vapour Patch warning

From Health Canada:
Health Canada is warning consumers not to use Triaminic Vapour Patch due to the serious adverse health effects that could result if the product is accidentally ingested by children.

Triaminic Vapour Patch contains camphor, eucalyptus oil and menthol. The reported side-effects from swallowing products containing camphor or eucalyptus oils vary from minor symptoms such as burning sensation in the mouth, headache, nausea and vomiting to more severe and life-threatening reactions such as seizures. ...more

Pharmacy rebate program on hot seat

Update: apparently the $25 markup cap has been taken off the table. There is a comment in this article that suggests the government may move their position a bit.

Health Minister George Smitherman offered a reprieve to worried pharmacists by announcing plans to scrap a proposed $25 cap on markups put on special, expensive medications such as HIV drugs — a move that will save pharmacies $13 million.

And he hinted that the controversial rebate ban could use some further definition.

“This continues to be, frankly, a very, very murky area of the Ontario drug system,” he said prior to the start of the hearing.

But he stressed the province’s bottom line was to rein in soaring costs of the drug program, estimated to eat up 10 per cent of overall provincial health-care spending, and get the best possible pricing for medicine.

It looks like the pressure being put on the government is having an effect.

More in this Toronto Star article here

Pharmacy battles for life in Ontario

There is a lot of news regarding the new legislation in Ontario. This article in the London Free Press talks about the beginning of hearings that will give stakeholders such as pharmacists, drug companies, and patients a chance to give their opinions.

There is no word if pharmacy owners will be asked to the table. Their advocacy group, called the Coalition of Ontario Pharmacy has repeatedly asked for a voice. They have even sent a couple of letters to the minister responsible with no response.

Canadian online pharmacies rebound from sales slump caused by U.S. plan

From the Brandon Sun:
As President George W. Bush mounted a final push this week to sign seniors up for a new prescription drug benefit, Canadian online pharmacies said business is already rebounding from an early hit caused by the U.S. plan.

Americans who've enrolled since January are starting to realize there are a lot of gaps and shortfalls in the Medicare benefit, with some drugs not covered at all, industry experts said. ...more

Vioxx's risk high in first two weeks, study finds

From the Globe and Mail:
The blockbuster drug Vioxx was pulled from the market in the fall of 2004 after research showed that the painkiller doubled the risk of heart attack and stroke and that its use may have contributed to thousands of deaths in North America.

Now, a new Canadian study shows that the risk was even more dramatic because one in four of the heart attacks that occurred were within two weeks of the start of treatment. ...more

Druggists fear new bill's rebate ban

From the London Free Press:
Neighbourhood drugstores may have been handed a lethal prescription from the Ontario government, say those who work in the business.

The province is proposing a law that would prohibit pharmacies from receiving rebate payments from generic drug companies -- something that would hit independent pharmacies the hardest.

"It will have a huge influence on the very existence of pharmacies in Ontario," said Hesham Abdelsayed, president of Ontario Medical Group, which operates three pharmacies in London and one in the region. ...more

Smitherman tells drug companies to pipe down

From the Toronto Star:
Canada’s brand-name pharmaceutical companies should “tone down their rhetoric” and work with the Liberal government to help save Ontario’s taxpayers millions of dollars in drug costs, Health Minister George Smitherman said Friday.

Smitherman was reacting to Paul Lucas, the CEO of GlaxoSmithKline, who warned Thursday that the province’s cost-saving plan will do to Ontario’s research-based drug companies what the Diefenbaker government’s cancellation of the Avro Arrow jet fighter did to the aerospace industry. ...more

Smitherman tells drug companies to pipe down

From the Toronto Star:
Canada’s brand-name pharmaceutical companies should “tone down their rhetoric” and work with the Liberal government to help save Ontario’s taxpayers millions of dollars in drug costs, Health Minister George Smitherman said Friday.

Smitherman was reacting to Paul Lucas, the CEO of GlaxoSmithKline, who warned Thursday that the province’s cost-saving plan will do to Ontario’s research-based drug companies what the Diefenbaker government’s cancellation of the Avro Arrow jet fighter did to the aerospace industry. ...more