Cancer patients feeling added stress due to drug shortage
Posted March 18, 2012 9:35 am.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS1130) – The Canadian drug shortage is putting more unnecessary stress on cancer patients trying to manage their pain.
Earlier this month, the Canadian Cancer Society asked the federal government to do something about a shortage of drugs needed for treating cancer patients after receiving numerous calls from worried patients.
Dan Demers with the society says some patients are panicking. “They’re worried that the treatments that they are relying on are not going to be available. For example, some of the anti-nausea drugs that they may need to go along with chemotherapy may not be available.”
He adds people being treated for cancer have enough stress to deal with already.
“It’s also how to manage in a crisis. If you don’t have the information as soon as possible, it makes it harder to manage,” explains Demers. “The doctors have pretty good information. Either the doctor or the hospital where you’re getting treatment, call them and ask your very specific questions about your concerns.”
Federal Health Minister, Leona Aglukkaq, confirms Health Canada is speeding up the review process needed to approve replacement medications in a bid to ease the drug shortage.
The problem has been increasing over the last year, but escalated recently with the temporary shut-down of a plant in Quebec which makes 90 per cent of all injectable drugs used in the country. The Sandoz Canada plant is expected to resume production in the near future.
