Canadians kept in dark about defective drugs – Toronto Star
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North American patients have been put at risk by prescription drugs that Canadian pharmaceutical companies sold with knowledge that their products were defective, a Star investigation has found.
Using records obtained through U.S. freedom of information laws, the Star also found other Canadian companies have:
- Hidden, altered and in some cases destroyed test data that showed their products were tainted or potentially unsafe.
- Not reported evidence of side-effects suffered by consumers taking their drugs.
Since 2008, more than 40 Canadian drug companies, including Toronto-based generic giant Apotex, have been cited for serious manufacturing violations.
All of these violations are detailed in inspection reports provided to the Star not by Health Canada but the American Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which also inspects Canadian facilities.
The Star investigation found that while the FDA strictly and transparently enforces drug manufacturing laws, Health Canada leaves Canadians in the dark by keeping secret details of problems its inspectors find.
Meanwhile, drugs and drug ingredients banned from the U.S. market have been allowed by Health Canada into Canadian pharmacies.
Read more – Toronto Star