{"id":174528,"date":"2018-08-01T23:16:06","date_gmt":"2018-08-02T03:16:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=174528"},"modified":"2018-08-01T23:16:06","modified_gmt":"2018-08-02T03:16:06","slug":"opposition-parties-blast-minister-dangerous-epipen-shortage-demand-fix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2018\/08\/01\/opposition-parties-blast-minister-dangerous-epipen-shortage-demand-fix\/","title":{"rendered":"Opposition parties blast minister for ‘dangerous’ EpiPen shortage, demand a fix"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
FILE: \u201cMany Canadians rely on EpiPens as life-saving devices.” (Photo: epipen.com)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

OTTAWA \u2014 The federal opposition parties called on the Trudeau government Wednesday to urgently address the shortage of life-saving epinephrine auto-injectors, known as EpiPens.<\/p>\n

But the Conservatives and New Democrats differ as to how to ensure an adequate supply.<\/p>\n

The NDP says the Liberals must take all steps necessary to prevent a future supply crunch, even if it means threatening the drug maker with the loss of its patent on the device.<\/p>\n

The Conservatives, on the other hand, recommended the government encourage development of a Canadian-based supply chain.<\/p>\n

Drug giant Pfizer said this week that the EpiPens it produces are in short supply, with the potential that adult doses may not be available at all in August, a peak month for people who rely on the injectors to treat serious allergic reactions.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany Canadians rely on EpiPens as life-saving devices,\u201d said NDP health critic Don Davies.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe minister of health should never have allowed this dangerous situation to develop, and now it’s on her to fix this immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n

The government said it was doing everything in its power to resolve the shortage as soon as possible, and advised Canadians with allergies to keep expired products.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe continue to work closely with Pfizer\u00a0Canada,\u201d said Thierry Belair, a spokesman for Health Minister Ginette Petitpas Taylor.<\/p>\n

Government officials noted that four other companies \u2014 Kaleo Pharma, Taro Pharmaceuticals, Valeant\u00a0Canada\u00a0and Lincoln Medical \u2014 have been approved to sell their epinephrine auto-injector products in\u00a0Canada, but that Health\u00a0Canada\u00a0can’t compel a private company to market and supply product.<\/p>\n

Critics warn the shortages could continue to happen because there is no firm requirement that manufacturers provide a consistent supply.<\/p>\n

Hematologist and medical historian Jacalyn Duffin thinks the government should designate a list of \u201cessential\u201d medicines and also foster a homegrown manufacturing industry, particularly since most drugs sold in\u00a0Canada\u00a0are made elsewhere.<\/p>\n

EpiPens are just one of dozens of medications in short supply, said Duffin, who tracks drug shortages on her website, CanadianDrugShortage.com.<\/p>\n

U.S.-based Pfizer produces EpiPens at a facility near St. Louis, Missouri, and there are no alternatives sold in\u00a0Canada.<\/p>\n

Health\u00a0Canada\u00a0said anyone who has an anaphylactic reaction but has only an expired EpiPen should use the expired product and immediately call 911.<\/p>\n

Davies called that response to the shortage \u201cunacceptable.<\/p>\n

\u201cHealth\u00a0Canada\u00a0must ensure that they are always available in sufficient supply. People’s health and their lives are on the line.\u201d<\/p>\n

The New Democrats called on the agency to make it a requirement for patent holders to supply the drug or lose their authorization to sell into the Canadian market.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen foreign drug companies fail to supply Canadians with life-saving pharmaceuticals, the federal government can and must take action, including expropriating patents if necessary,\u201d said Davies.<\/p>\n

But such an approach would lead to an even more critical shortage, or no supply at all, said Conservative health critic Marilyn Gladu, who noted there have been significant supply crunches for EpiPens in\u00a0Canada\u00a0three times in the past 12 months.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat would put us in an even worse position,\u201d said Gladu.<\/p>\n

Instead, the Trudeau government needs to set the conditions necessary to encourage Pfizer or other drug makers to set up production facilities in\u00a0Canada, she said.<\/p>\n

Pfizer also announced in April that it was running out of EpiPens, blaming the shortage on manufacturing delays. The shortage was felt at that time in the United Kingdom, but not the United States.<\/p>\n

Gladu said pricing may be a factor driving Pfizer’s product distributors in determining where scarce supplies should be shipped.<\/p>\n

EpiPens can cost around $300 in the U.S., although drug chains including CVS sell generic versions for less, while in\u00a0Canada\u00a0they are priced at around $100. They are sold for even less in the U.K.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

OTTAWA \u2014 The federal opposition parties called on the Trudeau government Wednesday to urgently address the shortage of life-saving epinephrine …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":96356,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-174528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news-ca","mauthors-terry-pedwell","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=174528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/174528\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/96356"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=174528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=174528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=174528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}