Ottawa won’t intervene in generic OxyContin decision
Canada’s health minister says she cannot delay or block the approval of generic OxyContin on the premise that some could misuse and become addicted to it.
November 19, 2012 | CTV News | News Article
Addiction experts leery of generic version of OxyContin
When OxyContin was replaced by a tamper-resistant substitute in the United States, prescriptions for the original drug at one of Canada’s highest-traffic border cities quadrupled. That’s a quarter of a million pills prescribed by doctors in Windsor, Ont., in excess of previous levels.
November 13, 2012 | The Globe and Mail | News Article | Publication | Policy Research Minute | Clinical Research Minute
High rate of warfarin discontinuation observed in study
One of the many potential problems with warfarin-based anticoagulant therapy is the poor rate of adherence and persistence among patients who are prescribed the drug. Now a new observational study published in Archives of Internal Medicine raises the possibility that the problem may be even worse than many may have previously suspected, as discontinuation rates in clinical trials appear to be much lower than in the real world.
October 22, 2012 | Forbes Magazine | News Article | Associated Research
Prescription for tragedy: W5 investigates the prescription pill epidemic
Powerful painkillers called opioids are only supposed to be available through a doctor’s prescription for people looking for relief from pain, but it’s easy to find someone else’s prescription for sale. For some who are addicted, a street buy is a fact of life.
October 13, 2012 | CTV News | News Article
Codeine use by new moms doesn’t up risk of death, hospitalization of infants: study
A new study disputes the suggestion that babies exposed to codeine through their mothers’ breast milk are at higher risk of dying or being admitted to hospital. Scientists on the other side of the argument were quick to call the study flawed and suggest its publication might lead more women to take codeine for pain associated with childbirth. But even the authors themselves said that the findings shouldn’t be seen as an endorsement of codeine use among nursing mothers – or any patient group for that matter.
April 30, 2012 | Global News | News Article | Associated Research
Codeine use unlikely to harm newborns
Newborn deaths and hospitalizations no more likely among those whose mothers took codeine than those who didn’t.
April 30, 2012 | CBC News | News Article | Associated Research
Fibrates to treat cholesterol may affect kidney health
Older patients taking a common cholesterol medication should be cautious of the impact on their kidney health. In a new study by Dr. Amit Garg, Scientist at the Lawson Health Research Institute and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES), and colleagues, one in 10 new older fibrate users experienced a 50 per cent increase in their serum creatinine.
April 18, 2012 | News-Medical | News Article | Publication | Clinical Research Minute | Patient Research Minute
OxyContin replacement still powerfully addictive: MDs
The makers of OxyNEO, the drug replacing painkiller OxyContin in Canada, say the new pill will prevent abuse — but doctors and people whose lives have been affected by the drug say the new pill is just as addictive. The drug’s makers, Purdue Pharma Canada, announced plans to replace OxyContin in February. Its replacement, OxyNEO, contains the same quantity of active ingredient oxycodone, but is harder for addicts to crush in order to inhale.
March 1, 2012 | CTV News | News Article
OxyContin de-listing will not stop Ontario’s painkiller epidemic
What will Ontario’s thousands of OxyContin addicts do when the drug is replaced this week? Turn to heroin? Find another painkiller? Nobody knows.
February 27, 2012 | Toronto Star | News Article
Canada not tracking prescription drug death statistics
Provincial hodge-podge of systems means no reliable numbers on fatal drug mishaps.
February 21, 2012 | CBC News | News Article
Muhammad Mamdani: St. Michael’s Hospital values in action
The Values in Action Awards Program was established in 1997 to recognize and honour individuals throughout St. Michael’s Hospital for their outstanding contribution to the Hospital and to our core values of Human Dignity, Excellence, Compassion, Social Responsibility, Community of Service and Pride of Achievement.
2011 Community of Service Award winner: Muhammad Mamdani, Director, Applied Health Research Centre
February 1, 2012 | YouTube | Video
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