Health Canada won't say how much new kids' pain medicine coming, where it's going
Health Canada officials say more doses of children's painkillers and fever medication will be available soon, but they won't say how many or where exactly they'll be sent.
Deputy Minister Stephen Lucas and several other senior Health Canada officials with responsibility for pharmaceutical policy were summoned to the House of Commons health committee Tuesday to explain why Canadian hospitals and nervous parents with sick kids at home are finding empty shelves where children's Tylenol and Advil are supposed to be.
The shortage began last spring but was exacerbated in the summer, when an early appearance of influenza and respiratory syncytial virus coincided with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Parents, worried the medicines wouldn't be available when their kids needed them, flocked to stores to stock up. Demand quadrupled.
Chief Medical Adviser Dr. Supriya Sharma said manufacturers initially told the government in the spring they could address a "tightening" in supply by increasing production. But by August, they let Health Canada know that plan was failing.
After nearly two months of discussions between governments and manufacturers, Health Canada arranged to import doses from the United States and Australia. The first U.S. shipment is already on the ground.
But frustration overflowed when NDP MP Don Davies asked at the committee meeting how many additional doses are coming in and where they are going.
Linsey Hollett, the director of health product compliance for Health Canada, said that's confidential.
"Unfortunately, I'm not able to share the exact quantities," she said.
She said distribution is being prioritized for hospitals but wouldn't say which ones, only that information provided by children's hospitals is being used to determine the need.
Hollett later clarified that Health Canada was trying to convince the manufacturers to make the information public and hoped that would happen soon.
Davies was incensed and Conservative MP Stephen Ellis called the secrecy "unconscionable."
To little avail, MPs and officials meandered for an hour around questions about when the shortage began, who is to blame and why it happened.
Lucas repeatedly told MPs that drug shortages are not unusual, are often dealt with before anyone in the public realizes there is a problem and are not unique to Canada.
Bloc Quebecois MP Jean-Denis Garon asked him to name even one other country where politicians have had to demand health officials explain to a committee why kids can't get medicine to bring down their fever.
Lucas said it's true that this particular shortage is worse in Canada, but he said there are acetaminophen shortages elsewhere, including in France, Germany and Ireland.
At the end of October, France limited the purchase of acetaminophen -- known in France more commonly as paracetamol -- to two boxes per customer due to a shortage. Both Ireland and Germany are warning there are hundreds of drugs in short supply, including kids' fever medications.
The German pharmacists association said in mid-September that China's ongoing COVID-19 lockdowns were affecting port exports, and that the heavy reliance on China and other Asian countries to make the active ingredients in drugs such as acetaminophen and ibuprofen meant that global supply-chain issues were having an impact.
Lucas acknowledged that supply-chain woes are contributing to drug shortages.
Hollett said there are currently shortages of as many as 800 drugs in Canada, but she said most are not critical.
There are 23 drugs on the government's "tier 3" list of critical shortages that pose significant risk to patients and the health care system. The designation requires the government to assemble a committee to investigate the problem and potential solutions.
Neither acetaminophen nor ibuprofen are on the list, which is published on the government's website.Health Canada could not explain on Tuesday why they are not there.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 15, 2022.
IN DEPTH
Jagmeet Singh pulls NDP out of deal with Trudeau Liberals, takes aim at Poilievre Conservatives
NDP Leader Jagmeet Singh has pulled his party out of the supply-and-confidence agreement that had been helping keep Prime Minister Justin Trudeau's minority Liberals in power.
'Not the result we wanted': Trudeau responds after surprise Conservative byelection win in Liberal stronghold
Conservative candidate Don Stewart winning the closely-watched Toronto-St. Paul's federal byelection, and delivering a stunning upset to Justin Trudeau's candidate Leslie Church in the long-time Liberal riding, has sent political shockwaves through both parties.
'We will go with the majority': Liberals slammed by opposition over proposal to delay next election
The federal Liberal government learned Friday it might have to retreat on a proposal within its electoral reform legislation to delay the next vote by one week, after all opposition parties came out to say they can't support it.
Budget 2024 prioritizes housing while taxing highest earners, deficit projected at $39.8B
In an effort to level the playing field for young people, in the 2024 federal budget, the government is targeting Canada's highest earners with new taxes in order to help offset billions in new spending to enhance the country's housing supply and social supports.
'One of the greatest': Former prime minister Brian Mulroney commemorated at state funeral
Prominent Canadians, political leaders, and family members remembered former prime minister and Progressive Conservative titan Brian Mulroney as an ambitious and compassionate nation-builder at his state funeral on Saturday.
Opinion
opinion Don Martin: Gusher of Liberal spending won't put out the fire in this dumpster
A Hail Mary rehash of the greatest hits from the Trudeau government’s three-week travelling pony-show, the 2024 federal budget takes aim at reversing the party’s popularity plunge in the under-40 set, writes political columnist Don Martin. But will it work before the next election?
opinion Don Martin: The doctor Trudeau dumped has a prescription for better health care
Political columnist Don Martin sat down with former federal health minister Jane Philpott, who's on a crusade to help fix Canada's broken health care system, and who declined to take any shots at the prime minister who dumped her from caucus.
opinion Don Martin: Trudeau's seeking shelter from the housing storm he helped create
While Justin Trudeau's recent housing announcements are generally drawing praise from experts, political columnist Don Martin argues there shouldn’t be any standing ovations for a prime minister who helped caused the problem in the first place.
opinion Don Martin: Poilievre has the field to himself as he races across the country to big crowds
It came to pass on Thursday evening that the confidentially predictable failure of the Official Opposition non-confidence motion went down with 204 Liberal, BQ and NDP nays to 116 Conservative yeas. But forcing Canada into a federal election campaign was never the point.
opinion Don Martin: How a beer break may have doomed the carbon tax hike
When the Liberal government chopped a planned beer excise tax hike to two per cent from 4.5 per cent and froze future increases until after the next election, says political columnist Don Martin, it almost guaranteed a similar carbon tax move in the offing.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Conservatives call on Elon Musk to step in after Liberals provide loan to Ottawa-based satellite operator
A $2.14-billion federal loan for an Ottawa-based satellite operator has Canadian politicians arguing about whether American billionaire Elon Musk poses a national security risk.
Sunken superyacht believed to contain watertight safes with sensitive intelligence data
Specialist divers surveying the wreckage of the US$40 million superyacht that sank off Sicily in August, killing seven people including British tech tycoon Mike Lynch, have asked for heightened security to guard the vessel, over concerns that sensitive data locked in its safes may interest foreign governments, multiple sources told CNN.
Myths busted and lessons learned: John Vennavally-Rao on his surgery to reverse his ostomy
Twenty-seven year Â鶹ӰÊÓ reporter and anchor John Vennavally-Rao shares his story of what it was like to have an ostomy bag as part of his health-care battle. 'I’m grateful for what it did to extend my life,' he writes in a personal column for CTVNews.ca.
The British Columbia election campaign is set to officially start today, with Lt.-Gov. Janet Austin issuing the writ for the Oct. 19 vote.
A northern Ontario man is facing a $12,000 fine after illegally shooting a moose near the Batchawan River.
Heavy metal exposure could increase cardiovascular disease risk, study finds
A new study is adding to emerging research showing that exposure to metals such as cadmium, uranium and copper may also be associated with the leading cause of death worldwide, cardiovascular disease.
Unusual flippered feet are making their way into the Saint Lawrence River this weekend. Led by underwater explorer and filmmaker Nathalie Lasselin, volunteer divers are combing the riverbed near Beauharnois in Montérégie to remove hundreds of tires that have been polluting the aquatic environment for decades.
Hezbollah targets base near Haifa after Israeli strike in Beirut killed 37, including top commander
The Lebanese militant group Hezbollah announced that it fired a barrage of missiles at a military base deep inside Israel early Sunday following an Israeli airstrike more than a day earlier that killed at least 37 people, including one of the militant group’s senior leaders as well as women and children.
A sea lion swam free after a rescue team disentangled it near Vancouver Island earlier this week.
Local Spotlight
Cole Haas is more than just an avid fan of the F.W. Johnson Wildcats football team. He's a fixture on the sidelines, a source of encouragement, and a beloved member of the team.
Getting a photograph of a rainbow? Common. Getting a photo of a lightning strike? Rare. Getting a photo of both at the same time? Extremely rare, but it happened to a Manitoba photographer this week.
An anonymous business owner paid off the mortgage for a New Brunswick not-for-profit.
They say a dog is a man’s best friend. In the case of Darren Cropper, from Bonfield, Ont., his three-year-old Siberian husky and golden retriever mix named Bear literally saved his life.
A growing group of brides and wedding photographers from across the province say they have been taken for tens of thousands of dollars by a Barrie, Ont. wedding photographer.
Paleontologists from the Royal B.C. Museum have uncovered "a trove of extraordinary fossils" high in the mountains of northern B.C., the museum announced Thursday.
The search for a missing ancient 28-year-old chocolate donkey ended with a tragic discovery Wednesday.
The Royal Canadian Mounted Police is celebrating an important milestone in the organization's history: 50 years since the first women joined the force.
It's been a whirlwind of joyful events for a northern Ontario couple who just welcomed a baby into their family and won the $70 million Lotto Max jackpot last month.