Seven Canadian pharmacies endorsed for Nevada licenses

From the Las Vegas SUN:
Seven Canadian pharmacies were tentatively endorsed Wednesday for licensing that will enable them to sell prescription drugs to Nevadans - a process approved by the 2005 Legislature to make such drugs more affordable.

The state Board of Pharmacy, meeting in Reno, denied three other Canadian pharmacies, two because they hadn't completely filled out their applications and one because it wasn't properly licensed in its home province. ...more

New Money from Old Drugs

From Red Herring:
Old drugs with minor variations, and therefore new patents, are behind the massive growth in spending on prescription medicines in developed countries, but do not offer substantial improvements over cheaper generic drugs, according to scientists at the University of British Columbia in Canada.

Known as “me-too” drugs, these medicines on average cost twice the price of the original brand-name drugs they are based on, and four times that of generic versions of the original drug. ...more

Canada drug provision on hold

From the Houston Chronicle:
A new state law designed to help Texans buy less expensive prescription drugs from Canada has been put on hold while state lawyers address a complaint from the federal government that it violates federal law governing drug imports.

The provision, part of a broader law that goes into effect Thursday, directs the Texas State Board of Pharmacy to provide information on a Web site to assist consumers in ordering drugs from as many as 10 designated Canadian pharmacies. ...more

Important Safety Information on Iressa (gefitinib) 250 mg Tablets

From Health Canada:
Health Canada recommends restricting the indication for IRESSA® to patients whose tumours are EGFR expression status positive or unknown......more

Study shows newer drug saves more lives in adult severe malaria cases

From the Canadian Press:
Treating adults with severe cases of malaria with the drug artesunate - rather than quinine - could save tens of thousands of lives in the developing world, new research suggests.

A study reported this week in the Lancet medical journal shows for the first time that artesunate is better at saving lives than the standard medication, quinine, reducing the chance of death from malaria by 35 per cent. ...more

New Brunswick leads Atlantic Canada for oxycodone use

From the Globe and Mail:
Although it was Newfoundland and Nova Scotia that first raised alarms about the abuse of so-called "hillbilly heroin" in Atlantic Canada, it is New Brunswick that accounts for most of the prescriptions for the highly addictive painkiller oxycodone, a new Health Canada report says.

During the first six months of 2005, more than 92,500 prescriptions were filled for oxycodone-based painkillers such as OxyContin at 651 retail pharmacies throughout the Atlantic provinces. ...more

Canadian pharmacies in Nevada

From the Pahrump Valley Times (Nev.):
Ten Canadian pharmacies have applied for licenses from the Nevada Board of Pharmacy to sell prescription drugs, which state officials herald as a more affordable market for cash-strapped Nevadans.

Nevada officials should have the state-approved Canadian pharmacies listed on the Governor's office for Consumer Health Assistance Web site by late September, the board of pharmacy's general counsel said Monday. ...more

Toronto Pharmacist and Son Charged With Defrauding Ontario Drug Benefits Plan

From Halifax Live:
Officers from the Ontario Provincial Police, Anti-Rackets, Health Fraud Investigation Team in cooperation with Toronto Police Service, 52 Division Vice Section charged a Toronto Pharmacist and her son with fraud as part of an intensive investigation into fraudulent claims being made to the Ontario Drug Benefits Plan. ...more

Health Canada agrees to let yanked ADHD Adderall back on Canadian market

From the Brandon Sun:
A drug for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder that was forced off the market last February by Health Canada is being reinstated after an expert panel declared it was of no greater risk than other medications for the disorder.

Adderall XR will be reinstated on the Canadian market effective this Friday, but it will take a bit longer before the drug is available again across the country, said Matt Cabrey, a spokesperson for Shire Pharmaceuticals. ...more

ASA, other anti-inflammatory drugs cut risk for colon cancer in women: study

From the Canadian Press:
Women who took two or more doses of ASA or other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs per week significantly reduced their risk of colorectal cancer - but also boosted the danger of internal bleeding, a major study has found.

The study of more than 80,000 women found that those who swallowed 14 or more tablets of ASA or other non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) per week on a consistent basis over 10 years had the lowest risk for developing colorectal cancer, said lead author Dr. Andrew Chan. ...more

U.S. drug giant Walgreen may have a prescription for Shoppers

From the Globe and Mail:
Inside the world of Big Pharmacy, the talk is of an impending takeover deal between Walgreen Co., the largest drug store chain in the United States, and Shoppers Drug Mart, Canada's only nationwide pharmacy chain. A spokesperson for Shoppers CEO Glenn Murphy says: "It's not been discussed; it's not on Shoppers' radar." But that's not what the unofficial word is. ...more

Ten Canadian firms apply to sell drugs in Nevada

From the Las Vegas SUN:
Ten pharmacies from Canada have applied to be licensed to fill prescriptions for Nevadans, state officials said Monday.

Louis Ling, the Nevada Board of Pharmacy's lawyer, said he had expected to see three applications at most. But by Friday's deadline, more than three times as many Canadian pharmacies had submitted applications, each accompanied by a $500 filing fee. All 10 are independent pharmacies and most have been selling to the United States for years, Ling said. ...more

Cancer clinic opens the door for private care

From the Globe and Mail:
A new private clinic in Toronto has begun booking appointments for patients who can afford to buy the costly cancer drugs Ontario's public system does not provide, foreshadowing what could become a standard feature of medicare.

"We're receiving faxes from doctors, who have had discussions with their patients, pretty much every day now," said Graham Vincent, chief operating officer of Provis Infusion Clinic Inc., which provides intravenous cancer drugs at a downtown centre. ...more

Sales of key antiviral drug soar

From the Canadian Press:
North American sales of the drug oseltamivir have more than tripled in recent months, a trend public health experts see as evidence individuals are stockpiling the once little-used antiviral as a hedge against a possible flu pandemic.

With similar reports emerging in other countries as well, a leading advocate for pandemic preparedness is concerned public demand could soon outstrip the limited global supply. ...more

Vioxx maker vows to appeal $253M judgment

From CTV News:
Pharmaceutical giant Merck and Co. has announced it will be appealing the $253.4-million US damage award given to the widow of a man who took the painkiller Vioxx.

"We believe that we have strong points to raise on appeal and are hopeful that the appeals process will correct the verdict," Kenneth C. Frazier, senior vice president and general counsel of Merck, said in a statement. ...more

Latest on Canadian Prescription Drug Website

From KLAS-TV (Nev.):
The Nevada State Board of Pharmacy is inching closer to having a website up and running where Nevadans can purchase prescription drugs from Canada online. August 19 is the application deadline for those pharmacies that would like to participate.

The local Medicare Advisory Foundation has been helping seniors get drugs from Canada for the last four years. Director Dan Roberts expects the state's new website will bring substantial savings for patients: ...more

Ontario mulls restrictions on sale of cold medications to combat crystal meth

From the Canadian Press:
A special Ontario committee will examine the feasibility of regulating the sale of some popular cold and allergy medications that contain the key ingredient used to make crystal methamphetamine, the province's health minister said Friday.

But George Smitherman was quick to note that requiring a prescription for common over-the-counter medications such as Sudafed, Actifed and Contac is just one of many ideas that will be on the table as Canada's most populous province wrestles with the growing national scourge of crystal meth. ...more

Seniors primed on drug bill plan

From In Forum (NDak.):
Moorhead retiree Donna Chalimonczyk saves $60 a month buying prescription drugs from Canada to treat her osteoporosis.

She hopes other seniors will have more opportunity to save money by buying foreign drugs, too. ...more

Long hours, workload blamed for drug errors

From the Patriot News (Mass.):
They work 12-hour shifts on their feet, often with no break.

In a decade, the number of prescriptions they fill annually has grown 65 percent, to more than 3 billion.

Such increased workloads and long hours contribute to pharmacy errors, say researchers and regulators, yet as state officials investigate a growing number of error complaints, Massachusetts and other states do little to regulate pharmacists' working conditions. Efforts to set national standards have failed, say those who support tighter regulations. ...more

(Not a Canadian related pharmacy story, but the problem of pharmacy errors is relevant everywhere.)

Antiviral drug touted as anti-pandemic tool

From CTV News:
A little-known antiviral drug that works against influenza has been largely ignored as countries race to amass drug arsenals to fight a feared flu pandemic. But governments should not overlook zanamivir, a commentary in a leading medical journal suggests.

The commentary, in this week's issue of The Lancet, appears almost prescient; Germany announced Thursday it was buying 1.7 million doses of zanamivir, choosing it over the more popular antiviral oseltamivir. ...more