Health Canada

Apotex warned by U.S. to raise quality control standards

Topics: 
Pharmaceutical industry, Public health & safety, Regulatory oversight, Health Canada
Rating: 
0

CBC News – April 26, 2013

Canadian generic drug maker Apotex Inc.'s exports to the United States could be blocked if the company doesn't correct quality control problems, according to a warning letter from a U.S. regulator.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration's website includes a warning letter sent to Apotex describing "repeated deficiencies" in quality control, such as ensuring drug products at one of its Toronto-area plant were free of bacterial or fungal contamination.

Health Canada Whistleblowers Move their Fight to the Federal Court

Topics: 
Health Canada, Whistleblowers
Rating: 
5

PIPSC – April 23, 2013

The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) supports the application for judicial review to be heard this morning at the Federal Court and made under the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Act (PSDPA) in the case of the now-notorious federal whistleblowers Drs. Shiv Chopra, Margaret Haydon and Gerard Lambert.

The application addresses the failure of the Public Service Integrity Commissioner's office to fully investigate Drs. Chopra, Haydon and Lambert's serious concerns about the impact of certain veterinary drugs on the health and safety of the Canadian public.

MP challenges corrupt practices of pharmaceutical companies

Topics: 
Pharmaceutical industry, Corruption, Health Canada, Public health & safety, Videos
Rating: 
3
Terence Young

Since the death of his daughter as a result of taking a prescription drug, Conservative MP Terence Young has been campaigning for better regulation of the pharmaceutical industry.

Young testified on October 17 to the Standing Senate Committee on Social Affairs, Science and Technology as an expert witness regarding post-approval drug monitoring and the corrupt practices of pharmaceutical companies.

Why does Canada trail U.S. and EU in protecting citizens from dangerous meds?

Topics: 
Public health & safety, Health care, Health Canada, Pharmaceutical industry, Regulatory oversight, Conflict of interest, Corporate ethics
Rating: 
4
The following are selected extracts

Heartburn pills that cause heart attacks, antidepressants that lead to suicide

Anne Kingston – November 20, 2012

On Oct. 17, 2012, Terence Young’s tireless 12-year crusade took him before a Senate committee looking into the safety and regulation of prescription drugs in Canada. The Conservative MP for Oakville, Ont., gave the panel an earful.

“Doctors and patients have no way to know when a drug is safe and when it is not,” he argued, noting that his own government’s drug monitoring system is “primarily in the hands of the big pharma companies themselves, even as a growing number of injuries and deaths are reported related to their use.”

Canada’s integrity commissioner: in full pursuit of the inconsequential

Topics: 
PSIC, Health Canada, Pharmaceutical industry, Regulatory oversight, Mario Dion
Rating: 
5

David Hutton – April 23, 2012

This is the story of how Canadian authorities suck up to a powerful industry that has a track record of bad behaviour, how public servants who get in the way are punished, and how the watchdog that’s supposed to investigate suspected wrongdoing is turning a blind eye.

Canada’s Integrity Commissioner Mario Dion, who is responsible for protecting government whistleblowers and investigating their allegations of wrongdoing, recently referred his third case to the Public Servants Disclosure Protection Tribunal created to examine alleged reprisals against whistleblowers.

Whistleblowers pay price for integrity

Topics: 
Dr. Shiv Chopra, Health Canada, Honours
Rating: 
0

Lethbridge Herald Opinon – November 26, 2011

Awards recognize courage of public servants who speak out. At least someone appreciates the efforts of whistleblowers. A trio of public servants with a conscience may have paid a personal price for their honesty, but they were honoured Thursday with the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression's inaugural Integrity Award.

Drs. Shiv Chopra, Margaret Haydon and Gerard Lambert are former Health Canada scientists who were dismissed for "insubordination" in 2004 after publicly expressing serious reservations about the approval of products they believed would harm the food chain and ultimately threaten the well-being of Canadians.

Interview: Health Canada Whistleblowers Honoured

Topics: 
Dr. Shiv Chopra, PSIC, Health Canada, Monsanto, Honours, PSDPA, Privy Council Office (PCO)
Rating: 
4
Drs. Shiv Chopra and Margaret Haydon

CBC The Current – November 22, 2011

CBC: The Professional Institute of the Public Service called it a sad day for federal employees worried about the safety of Canadians. This summer, the labour relations board ruled against two out of three Health Canada scientists who lost their jobs in a long battle over whistle blowing.

Doctors Shiv Chopra, Margaret Haydon and Gerard Lambert went public with their concerns that bovine growth hormones might be a risk to human health. In the end, the hormone was never approved for use in Canada.

New CJFE Award honours Health Canada whistleblowers

Topics: 
Whistleblowers, Dr. Shiv Chopra, Food safety, Health Canada, Honours
Rating: 
0
Drs. Shiv Chopra, Gerard Lambert, Margaret Haydon

CJFE – November 16, 2011

Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) honours Dr. Shiv Chopra, Dr. Margaret Haydon and Dr. Gérard Lambert with its new Integrity Award at the 14th annual CJFE Gala: A Night to Honour Courageous Reporting.

The values of the award are reflected in the commitment shown by these Canadian scientists when they informed the Canadian public about specific health dangers inherent in food production in the face of great pressure to remain silent.

Whistleblowers fear for Canada's reputation

Topics: 
PSLRB, Health Canada, Dr. Shiv Chopra
Rating: 
0

September 12, 2011

A whistleblowers’ group in Canada has declared that rulings by the Public Service Labour Relations Board (PSLRB) against whistleblowers was harming the country’s international reputation.

Director of the Federal Accountability Initiative for Reform (FAIR), David Hutton made the claim in commentary on a decision of the PSLRB to uphold the sacking of two Health Canada scientists who refused to approve the release of commercial products into the food supply - antibiotics, hormones and chemicals - without the legally required safety evidence. The Board reversed a third scientist’s dismissal.

Whistleblower rulings hurt Canada's reputation

Topics: 
Dr. Shiv Chopra, Health Canada, Integrity Commissioner, PSLRB
Rating: 
5

Andrew McIntosh – September 7, 2011

A string of rulings against federal government whistleblowers is harming Canada's international reputation, says the head of a group that fights to protect honest public servants who expose wrongdoing.

And the spectacular "Enron-like" failure of a federal office that was supposed to investigate whistleblower allegations, not bury them, makes a bad situation worse, said David Hutton, executive director of Federal Accountability Initiative for Reform (FAIR).

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