Pharmacy is the clinical health science that links medical science with chemistry and it is charged with the discovery, production, disposal, safe and effective use, and control of medications and drugs. The practice of pharmacy requires excellent knowledge of drugs, their mechanism of action, side effects, interactions, mobility and toxicity. At the same time, it requires knowledge of treatment and understanding of the pathological process. Some specialties of pharmacists, such as that of clinical pharmacists, require other skills, e.g. knowledge about the acquisition and evaluation of physical and laboratory data.
Prescription drug list prices in the United States continually rank among the highest in the world. The high cost of prescription drugs became a major topic of discussion in the 21st century, leading up to the U.S. health care reform debate of 2009, and received renewed attention in 2015. One major reason for high prescription drug prices in the United States relative to other countries is the inability of government-granted monopolies in the U.S. health care sector to use their bargaining power to negotiate lower prices and that the US payer ends up subsidizing the world's R&D spending on drugs.
Oxycodone/paracetamol, sold under the brand name Percocet among others, is a combination of the opioid oxycodone with paracetamol (acetaminophen), used to treat moderate to severe pain.
The Canadian Medical Association Journal is a peer-reviewed general medical journal published by the Canadian Medical Association (CMA). It publishes original clinical research, analyses and reviews, news, practice updates, and editorials.
Antidepressant discontinuation syndrome, also called antidepressant withdrawal syndrome, is a condition that can occur following the interruption, reduction, or discontinuation of antidepressant medication following its continuous use of at least a month. The symptoms may include flu-like symptoms, trouble sleeping, nausea, poor balance, sensory changes, anxiety, and depression. The problem usually begins within three days and may last for several months. Rarely psychosis may occur.
The College of Family Physicians of Canada is a professional association and the legal certifying body for the practice of family medicine in Canada. This national organization of family physicians was founded in 1954 and incorporated in 1968. Although membership is not mandatory to practice medicine, it currently numbers over 38,000 members. Members of the CFPC belong to the national College, as well as to their provincial or territorial chapters. The CFPC uses both English and French as official communication languages.
Pharmacy and Therapeutics (P&T) is a committee at a hospital or a health insurance plan that decides which drugs will appear on that entity's drug formulary. The committee usually consists of healthcare providers involved in prescribing, dispensing, and administering medications, as well as administrators who evaluate medication use. They must weigh the costs and benefits of each drug and decide which ones provide the most efficacy per dollar. This is one aspect of pharmaceutical policy. P&T committees utilize an evidence-based approach to drive change within health systems/plans by changing existing policies and bringing up-to-date research to support medical decision-making.
Varenicline is a medication used for smoking cessation. Varenicline is also used for the treatment of dry eye disease.
Insite is the first legal supervised drug injection site in North America, located at 139 East Hastings Street, in the Downtown Eastside (DTES) neighbourhood of Vancouver, British Columbia. The DTES had 4700 chronic drug users in 2000 and has been considered to be the centre of an "injection drug epidemic". The site provides a supervised and health-focused location for injection drug use, primarily heroin. The clinic does not supply any drugs. Medical staff are present to provide addiction treatment, mental health assistance, and first aid in the event of an overdose or wound. In 2017, the site recorded 175,464 visits by 7,301 unique users; 2,151 overdoses occurred with no fatalities, due to intervention by medical staff. The site also offers a free checking service so clients can check their substances for fentanyl and carfentanil. Health Canada has provided $500,000 per year to operate the site, and the BC Ministry of Health contributed $1,200,000 to renovate the site and cover operating costs. Insite also serves as a resource for those seeking to use a harm reduction approach for people who inject drugs around the world. In recent months and years, delegations from a number of countries are on record touring the facility, including various U.S. states, Colombia and Brazil. 95% of drug users who use Insite also inject on the street according to a British Columbia health official.
The Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health, or CADTH, is a Canadian national organisation that provides research and analysis to healthcare decision-makers.
The Canadian Medical Protective Association (CMPA) is a membership-based, not-for-profit organization that provides legal defense, liability protection, and risk-management education for physicians in Canada. The CMPA also provides compensation to patients and their families proven to have been harmed by negligent clinical care. In 2016, the CMPA's membership list totaled 95,691 physicians.
Established in 2002, the Canadian International Pharmacy Association ("CIPA") is a Canadian association of licensed pharmacy businesses offering mail order pharmacy services to Canadian and international patients. CIPA members sell pharmaceuticals and maintenance medications to individuals upon receipt of a valid prescription. In addition to selling Health Canada approved medications from their licensed Canadian pharmacies, CIPA members also have relationships with regulated international pharmacies and inspected fulfillment centres that directly deliver medications to patients. Patients make the choice from where their medications will be delivered, and this is confirmed with them at time of purchase.
The Journal of Global Drug Policy and Practice describes itself as an open access peer-reviewed public health journal. Critics say it is biased, not peer reviewed, and not a legitimate scientific journal. It is funded by the US Department of Justice.
Choosing Wisely is a United States-based health educational campaign, led by the ABIM Foundation, about unnecessary health care.
Refugee health care is the provision of health services to refugees and refugee claimants. As early as 2009, health researchers identified particular medical needs and health vulnerabilities amongst these populations. Compared to other immigrants, they report more physical, emotional, and dental problems and, compared to those born in Canada, they have higher rates of infections and chronic diseases that are both treatable and preventable.
Boris Sobolev is a Russian-born Canadian health services researcher. He is an author of Analysis of Waiting-Time Data in Health Services Research and Health Care Evaluation Using Computer Simulation: Concepts, Methods and Applications, and is Editor-in-Chief of the Health Services Research series published by Springer Science+Business Media.
Drug recycling, also referred to as medication redispensing or medication re-use, is the idea that health care organizations or patients with unused drugs can transfer them in a safe and appropriate way to another patient in need. The purpose of such a program is reducing medication waste, thereby saving healthcare costs, enlarging medications’ availability and alleviating the environmental burden of medication.
Canada's Pandemic Influenza Plan was released most recently in 2017 by the Canadian Pandemic Influenza Preparedness (CPIP) Task Group. It is available as an periodically-updated webpage. It is available in pdf format.
Joel Lexchin is a professor emeritus at the York University Faculty of Health where he taught about pharmaceutical policy, an Associate Professor in the Department of Family and Community Medicine at the University of Toronto, an emergency physician at the Toronto General Hospital and a Fellow in the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. Lexchin is the author of over 160 peer-reviewed publications.
Kishor M. Wasan is a Canadian pharmacologist, pharmacist and professor. He was the dean of the University of Saskatchewan's College of Pharmacy and Nutrition from 2014 to 2019 and associate dean of research and graduate studies at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of British Columbia (UBC) from 2011 to 2014. Previously at UBC, he was chair of pharmaceutics and national director of the Canadian Summer Student Research Program after first joining the faculty in 1995. Wasan's research focuses on lipid-based drug delivery and the interaction between lipoprotein and pharmaceuticals. He has published more than 550 peer-reviewed articles and abstracts. He is a founding member and co-director of UBC's Neglected Global Diseases Initiative.
