More health news from Canada

For your Saturday morning reading pleasure, here are two articles following up on my dichloroacetate (DCA) and bogus internet pharmacy death posts this week. Each was recommended by my clandestine operative from the Great White North, PharmCanuck:

Canadian cancer society warns of untested drug

Heather Logan, the director of cancer control policy at the society who trained as a nurse, has worked with people fighting to prolong their lives. Logan said she sympathizes with those who are buying the drug and mixing it at home as a last resort, but stresses there are serious safety concerns.

"The challenge is with this drug, we don't actually know whether this may hasten their death, and it may also seriously impact their quality of life for the months that they have remaining," Logan told CBC Newsworld on Thursday.

Pharmacists' association urges Health Canada to rein in phoney pharmacies

In the United States, an FDA investigation found that 85 per cent of drugs being funnelled into the country purporting to be from Canadian pharmacies were in fact shipped from 27 other countries around globe. A number of the products were also determined to be counterfeit medications.

Legitimate Canadian pharmacies that sell drugs online will indicate they are licensed under a provincial college and will provide contact information for the store and its manager.

More like this

I can't remember if I mentioned this before, but it is worth repeating. Living near Canada, I would tell people first, I cannot recommend that they buy drugs from Canada, but second, if they do, they should first drive there are make sure there is a real building that corresponds with the website. Not everyone can do that feasibly.

But if should be possible to do some checking by phone, with whatever licensing agencies are involved.

Here's more news from up north. We should talk sometime about EMPower Plus, too.

http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/ahc-asc/media/advisories-avis/2007/2007_27_e.html

Health Canada is warning consumers not to use the unauthorized natural health product XOX For Men, because it contains an undeclared pharmaceutical ingredient, tadalafil, an ingredient found in the prescription drug Cialis. The use of XOX For Men could pose serious health risks, especially for patients with existing medical conditions such as heart problems, those taking heart medication, or those at risk of stroke... In extremely rare instances, use of tadalafil may potentially result in penile tissue damage and permanent loss of potency.

XOX For Men is advertised as a natural sex enhancer and is not authorized for sale in Canada.