Drug shortage hits hospitals, pharmacists, patients - New Brunswick - CBC News - 0 views
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norton review on 29 Mar 12Patients, pharmacies and hospitals in New Brunswick are feeling the ripple effects of a temporary stop in production by one of the country's largest medical drug producers, Sandoz Canada in Quebec. In Dieppe, pharmacist Dennis Abud said that he is running out of several medications, including injectable painkillers like morphine. The shortage has been affecting his Patients. Abud said that in some cases he has managed to provide Patients with the drugs they need, but not in a timely fashion. "My staff got together and did a couple of phone calls and figured out a way to get it to the patient. But I don't know if that patient waited in pain for a while." Sandoz Canada - one of the country's leading suppliers of generic cancer and heart medications - announced in late February that it was temporarily suspending production at its Boucherville, Que., facility. Sandoz has scaled back production of certain drugs - mostly painkillers, antibiotics and anaesthetics - to upgrade operations after quality-control assessments by the FDA warned the factory fell short of its standards. To exacerbate supply concerns, a fire Sunday in the ceiling above the boiler room of Sandoz's Boucherville plant has halted all production until at least Monday, and the company says it is assessing any impact to product supply. "I got on the phone and tried to order some new product and it was already too late," Abud said. "It's been really frustrating for pharmacists." John Staples, a Moncton pharmacist, said that the problem is not new. "It's been going on for two years," he said. "Sometimes they say there's none anywhere in the city." Both health networks in New Brunswick are keeping a close eye on the situation. "It is an exhaustive process. We've got pharmacists and administrative staff at all of our hospitals, going through all of our inventory numbers, looking at all the specific medications," said Luc Foulem, a spokesperson for Vitalite Health Network. "So if we do have a