Category Archive

Treatment (Pharmaceutical)

Pharmaceutical companies need to explain why drug shortages occur in order to prevent them

February 4, 2016

By Deron Hamel Stakeholders would be better positioned to offer solutions to prevent medication shortages if pharmaceutical companies provided public explanations about why shortages happen, says Suzanne Nurse, Epilepsy Ontario’s director of information and client services. Following public consultation in 2014, the Canadian government announced it would be mandating the country’s pharmaceutical manufacturers to publicly…

Medication Alert: Divalproex Sodium (Epival)

December 19, 2015

Canadian pharmaceutical companies are reporting shortages of divalproex sodium (Epival), also known as valproic acid. As of Thursday December 17, a total of fifteen divalproex sodium shortages were posted on drugshortages.ca by Abbott Laboratories Limited*, Apotex Inc., Pro Doc Limitée, Sanis Health Inc. and Teva Canada Limited. None of the pharmaceutical companies have provided an…

Cannabidiol the Voices of Epilepsy’s hottest topic of 2015

December 10, 2015

By Deron Hamel Epilepsy Ontario’s weekly column, the Voices of Epilepsy, saw strong readership in 2015, and of all the issues covered this year one received more buzz on the organization’s social-media platforms than any other: cannabidiol (CBD). CBD is a substance derived from the marijuana plant. It is the most abundant, non-psychoactive chemical compound…

2,000% price hike on infantile spasms medication ‘predatory behaviour’: Neurologist

September 24, 2015

By Deron Hamel A 2,000-per-cent price hike on a medication to treat infantile spasms is “predatory behaviour” on the part of Questcor Pharmaceuticals, and drug companies could hike prices on other seizure medications if policies aren’t put into place, says pediatric neurologist Dr. Carter Snead. Infantile spasms – also called West syndrome – is a…