VANCOUVER –

Canada’s pharmacists worry a deficiency of info about prescription administration could see a repeat of the problem with diabetes and pounds-loss drug Ozempic, in which 1000’s of doses have been mailed over the border to Us residents.

Canadian Pharmacists Association vice-president of public affairs Joelle Walker said Us residents buying more affordable Canadian prescription drugs is nothing at all new.

But she mentioned the situation of Dr. David Davison, a Nova-Scotia-certified physician dependent in Texas who is said by regulators to have recommended big portions of Ozempic to US-primarily based buyers through BC pharmacies, highlights the urgent will need for a “countrywide discussion” on how Canada can safeguard its prescription drug provide against this kind of mass orders.

The University of Doctors and Surgeons of Nova Scotia said previous week it issued an interim suspension of Davison’s licence soon after learning of his alleged tactics from the B.C. Faculty of Pharmacists.

1 of the major issues, Walker stated, is that there isn’t a powerful perception of the prevalence of mass U.S. purchasing of Canadian prescription medicines simply because the facts isn’t obtainable.

She claimed the 1st move ought to be securing data on prescription-drug administration in Canada, allowing regulators to see the place the problems are just before becoming able to handle them.

“It is very easy when you have a quite specific situation like Ozempic,” Walker claimed. But with out understanding “how quite a few other medication are getting sold and in what quantities in an on the web vogue to People in america, it’s really tricky to arrive up with the right coverage methods.”

Ozempic’s main use is to handle diabetic issues, but demand for the drug has spiked a short while ago due to its so-called “off-label” use for pounds decline, hyped by social media and movie star endorsement.

The Ozempic issue emerged just after B.C. officers learned that up to 15 for each cent of the drug’s prescriptions in the province throughout the 1st two months of 2023 went to Individuals.

B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix announced that the province would prohibit access to Ozempic for non-inhabitants.

Davison, who graduated from Dalhousie University in 1977, did not react to requests for comment.

He is listed by the Texas Medical Board as a health practitioner at Texas Tech Family Drugs in Odessa, Texas. His documents demonstrate no grievances, other than noting below “Non-TMB Disciplinary Steps” that his Nova Scotia licence has been suspended.

The Texas Tech University Wellness Sciences Middle — which operates Davison’s area of apply — reported the business “lately became conscious” of the “assertion” that he might have approved Canadian Ozempic to U.S. sufferers.

“We are seeking into the make a difference and will deal with it internally and as appropriate,” the assertion stated.

Businesses these kinds of as the Canadian Pharmacists Association and the Canadian Overall health Coverage Institute have been sounding the alarm about attainable loopholes that enable Canadian prescription medications to end up in the U.S.

Peter Loewen, a College of British Columbia assistant professor and Vancouver Normal Hospital pharmacotherapeutic specialist, explained price differences for medications across the U.S. border, put together with the no cost movement of men and women and items, imply regulating the move of prescription medications is a lot easier said than accomplished.

“Our economies are intimately intertwined,” he mentioned. “And this concern is one particular that gets caught up in that.

“It’s the regulatory and trade connection among our nations, and the point that so several Canadians shift concerning the two countries, as do Us citizens, (that) make it non-trivial to appear up with what could seem to be like easy alternatives.”

Walker mentioned any discussion about how medications are approved also desires to get into account that Canadians also make use of cross-border prescriptions when travelling or transferring to a further province.

As these, any new plan on prescription drug actions needs to be “very careful” to stay clear of placing up “unneeded limitations for Canadians to obtain care.”

But the position quo, she mentioned, may possibly generate stress purchasing from Canadian people if they are not particular their drug supplies are guarded.

“We need to have to make confident that Canada is just not witnessed as form of the option to an American dilemma that requires an American alternative.”


This report by The Canadian Push was initially printed April 12, 2023.
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