Prescription drugs safer for Canadians

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Ottawa – Recently, the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology tabled its Final Report on their four part study on prescription pharmaceuticals in Canada.  The Honourable Tobias C. Enverga Jr., Senator from Ontario, is a member of the Committee and has taken part in this study since his appointment in 2012.

“This is one of the most comprehensive studies of the pharmaceuticals conducted, and the issues surrounding prescription drugs and their entire life-cycles have brought new knowledge to Canadians including the development, approval, regulation and unintended

consequences associated with their use,” said Senator Enverga in a statement.  “I am very proud to have taken part in the study.  It is yet another example of how the Senate, through its committees, can use its wide range of expertise among senators, and contribute constructively and directly, in a non-partisan manner, to national policy formation and legislation, like Bill C-17, Vanessa’s Law which recently became law,” he continued.

The four-part study which started 3 years ago, March 28, 2013, was grouped into Clinical Trials, Post-Approval Monitoring, Off-Label Use, and Unintended Consequences all discussed in separate interim reports.  The Committee made 79 recommendations for future action, and held a round table discussion with a panel of 16 experts to address issues that spanned across several of the themes or needed further inquiry.

The Final Report provides a brief overview of the four themes and the roundtable discussion in addition to some relevant updates since the start of the study.

  “The most worrying part of the study was that of the unintended consequences of prescription drugs.  The Fourth Report includes abuse, misuse and addiction, antibiotic resistance, counterfeit and substandard drugs, drug shortages, and interactions between drugs in people using more than one for multiple conditions.  It is a Senate Report that is relevant to all Canadians who at one stage or another use prescription drugs, and will make use of prescription drugs safer for Canadians.”