editor, Author at Monitor Telegram

Potential changes concern pharma companies

October 2, 2017

Proposed changes to the way Canada puts a ceiling on patented drug prices have put pharmaceutical companies on alert, says an Ottawa intellectual property lawyer.

Earlier this summer, Health Canada released a consultation report entitled “Protecting Canadians from Excessive Drug Prices” that included a number of suggested amendments to the federal Patented Medicines Regulations, which are in turn used by the Patented Medicines Prices Review Board to determine the level at which a drug’s price crosses the threshold to become excessive.

Mother demands answers after son, 8, put in restraints and injected on first day of school

September 28, 2017

A Toronto-area mother is searching for answers after she says her son was taken to a hospital alone in the back of a police car, placed in restraints and injected with a sedative because he was acting out on the first day of school.

Debbie Kiroff says her eight-year-old, who loves cooking, Lego and swimming, has behavioural issues and a severe learning disability. So when the principal at Holland Landing Public School phoned her on Sept. 5 to say his behaviour was “escalating,” it didn’t come as a shock.

Shackling and sedating Ontario student ‘disgusting and unacceptable,’ Opposition leader says

September 28, 2017

In a heated exchange in the Ontario Legislature Thursday, the Opposition leader took the Liberal government to task over the treatment of a Toronto-area boy who was restrained and sedated on his first day of school.

Progressive Conservative Leader Patrick Brown said the CBC Toronto story “left a knot in the pit of [his] stomach,” and the actions of the school and hospital are “disgusting and unacceptable.”

Ontario to force pharmaceutical companies to disclose money paid to doctors

September 28, 2017

Ontario is planning to force pharmaceutical companies to divulge their payments to doctors, a major step toward transparency in the otherwise murky world of medical marketing in Canada.

Legislation the Liberals are expected to introduce on Wednesday would make Ontario the first province in which anyone could search a central online database to see if health-care providers or medical organizations have received money from the makers of drugs or medical devices.

Health Canada ‘gutting’ law to detect dangerous medicines, with possible deadly consequences, advocates warn

September 27, 2017

After Vanessa’s Law successfully navigated Parliament and became the law of the land, then Conservative MP Terence Young felt a sense of relief, able to breathe believing he’d finally won his 14-year battle.

Parliament had passed, without a single dissenting vote, a government bill that had started as his own; a bill to protect patients from potentially dangerous prescription drugs – to protect Canadians from suffering the agony his family suffered when his daughter, 15-year-old Vanessa, died of a heart attack after taking a prescribed drug.

But now, almost three years later, Young’s battle continues as a handful of measures he says are critical to the bill’s efficacy have yet to be enacted.

Red more at Global News

Revival of Gilead Whistleblower’s Lawsuit Should Stoke Fear In Big Pharma

September 26, 2017

The pharmaceutical industry often operates like the rules don’t apply to it. Over the years, prescription drug manufacturers have been slapped with billions in fines after they are caught overstepping regulatory limits meant to protect patients and taxpayers. The most significant cases were initiated by whistleblowers, and thanks to them, greater transparency has been forced on the industry.

In the most recent blow, a Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision has revived a whistleblower lawsuit against Gilead Sciences. The ruling has put Big Pharma on edge. A federal district court had dismissed the case in 2015, saying the complaint had failed to state a claim that violated the False Clams Act.

Woman with Down syndrome files human rights complaint after cops mock her during traffic stop

September 21, 2017

A 29-year-old woman with Down syndrome has filed a complaint with the Human Rights Tribunal of Ontario after two Toronto police officers were recorded mocking her during a traffic stop.

Francie Munoz argues the behaviour displayed by Const. Sasa Sljivo and Const. Matthew Saris on Nov. 5, 2016 amounts to discrimination on the grounds of disability.

She says in the complaint that she has suffered emotional trauma as a result of the incident, and that it has undermined her trust in law enforcement.

Sljivo and Saris are facing a disciplinary hearing on charges under the Police Services Act, with the next hearing scheduled for Oct. 18.

Doctors say tax us: Canada is worth it

September 21, 2017

During the past month many doctors have mobilized to oppose the tax changes proposed by the federal government for individuals who are incorporated. We say that the government should move ahead with these plans and go much further in pursuing Canadian economic equity. We recommend that our physician colleagues should resolve their financial issues through negotiations with their ministries of health.

Canada’s poverty rate is 20th out of 31 OECD countries. The Canadian poverty rate went up slightly from 2005 to 2015 to 14.2 per cent, representing 4.8 million people. The child poverty rate was up marginally to 17.1 per cent. Ominously senior’s poverty rates, which had fallen dramatically for two decades, increased from 12 per cent to 14.5 per cent.

Big Business Starting to Look at Canada’s Newest Industry

September 21, 2017

Twenty years ago, it was vilified as a ‘gateway drug’. Now, cannabis has grown into a big business, with the potential to become even bigger as laws are scheduled to change to reflect shifting social attitudes towards marijuana and investment picks up to take advantage of increased demand.

And make no mistake: the demand is huge. In the United States, the legal cannabis industry is worth $6.7 billion, according to Bloomberg. Actively watching the industry include: Altria Group (NYSE: MO), Insys Therapeutics (NASDAQ: INSY), GW Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: GWPH), Teva Pharmaceuticals (NYSE: TEVA), MedReleaf Corp (OTC: MEDFF) (TSX: LEAF.TO)

One of the World’s Most Educated Countries Has A Fake Degree Problem

September 21, 2017

For the last number of years, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in its annual study of education within its 35 member countries has found that Canada has had the largest percentage of college-educated adults in its population. Yay, Canucks!

While this year Canada, unfortunately, slipped behind South Korea into second place, this is a profound achievement and reflects Canada’s proud heritage of spending more public funds than any other OECD country on college education for its population.

So it is bitterly ironic that a scandal regarding phony degrees held by Canadians has recently erupted.

800 Canadians have phony degrees

Apparently, as many as 800 Canadians have been duping their fellow countrymen by having purchased fake degrees from overseas diploma mills.

According to CBC Marketplace which broke the story a few weeks ago:

“Fake diplomas are a billion-dollar industry, according to experts, and Marketplace obtained business records of its biggest player, a Pakistan-based IT firm called Axact. The [Marketplace] team spent months combing through thousands of degree transactions, cross-referencing personal information with customers’ social media profiles.

“The investigation revealed more than 800 Canadians could have purchased a fake degree.”

Worse for people who interact with these fraudsters, many of the degrees appear to be for professionals “like engineers and health care workers who lack the proper skills and expertise [and] can put the public at risk.”

Phony lawyer victimized clients

One victim was a Toronto lawyer who hired someone with a phony law degree to manage new business for him. The fraudster had presented impressive college documentation to get the job. But once at work took advantage of new clients, trying to squeeze as much money out of them as he possibly could. The experience ended up costing the real lawyer some $100,000 although the fraudster was only employed for a month.

It just shows that Canada is not immune to crime and fraud. Polite Canadians can be taken advantage of by those without scruples even though we appear to live in a cultural paradise of tolerance and love.

This is why we published our white paper on fraud in healthcare. We can get burned!