OVERDOSE VICTIM'S DAD CALLS FOR PUBLIC INQUIRY

Regulatory Body Finds Two Pharmacists Didn'T Properly Dispense
Methadone

Two Glace Bay pharmacists will lose their licences for a week after
an investigation found they dispensed methadone improperly.

One man died of an overdose of the drug.

And at least three other patients became ill after taking prescribed
methadone prepared at Ferguson's Pharmacy Ltd. in 2005.

The Nova Scotia College of Pharmacists launched a probe of David and
Donald Ferguson after Ron Whalen filed a complaint.

Mr. Whalen's son, Robert Whalen, 23, died in 2005 of a methadone
overdose.

"I'm not very happy at all," Mr. Whalen of Glace Bay said
Tuesday.

"The two of them lose their licence for a week and they don't even
have to close down the pharmacy. One guy can go to Florida and the
other guy can run the pharmacy for a week and then vice versa."

The college's settlement says both men are suspended for seven days.
"But it doesn't say they both have to do it together," Mr. Whalen
said.

The college should have closed the pharmacy permanently, he
said.

He also said he believes there should have been a criminal
investigation and he has written letters to the province's Justice
and Health departments, asking for a public inquiry.

"From what we see so far, I think that maybe they will step in and do
something," Mr. Whalen said. "But there's no guarantee of that. It's
a long, slow process."

Robert Whalen, who was trying to kick an addiction to OxyContin, had
a prescription for 50 milligrams of methadone mixed with Tang. He had
83 milligrams of the drug in his system when he died, his father said.

Methadone is a synthetic opiate commonly prescribed for people with
addictions to drugs such as oxycodone or heroin.

It has long-lasting effects that ease the symptoms of withdrawal and
minimize the extreme highs and lows associated with illicit drug use,
according to Health Canada.

The settlement agreement released by the college says the three
patients who became ill on July 21, 2005, reported the methadone
solution tasted bad and made them vomit.

"Robert walked home and the other two walked home," Mr. Whalen
said.

"One of them only made it as far as Tim Hortons, which is very close,
a three-or four-minute walk, and got very deathly sick. The second
person made it to home and got very deathly sick. Robert went home to
his apartment and he lay down, and we found him on the floor three
days later."

His older brother, Hughie, who had come home from Ontario to get
married, found Robert's body, said their dad.

"So we had to put on a wedding five days later," Mr. Whalen said. "It
was a very difficult time."

Robert Whalen was very outgoing and friendly, said his
father.

"Robert wasn't the guy who would be arguing or fighting with you;
he's the guy who would be carrying on and laughing. He had a lot of
friends and he enjoyed life fully."

Robert Whalen had gone through the methadone program once before, his
father said.

"Then he had a relapse, which can happen to anybody," he
said.

The young man, who worked for his family's self-storage company,
decided to get clean again.

"He was only on the program two weeks when they mixed the methadone
wrong," Mr. Whalen said.

The toxicology results from Robert's autopsy came back nine months
after he died, his father said.

During that time Mr. Whalen was thinking his son had "messed up"
again by taking street drugs along with his methadone.

"Then we realized that he didn't do anything else. He just had
methadone in him and that's all," Mr. Whalen said. "He was trying to
get his life on track, and this is what happened."

A technician at the pharmacy destroyed the batch of methadone in
question, contrary to federal guidelines.

The college investigation found Donald Ferguson allowed
non-pharmacists to prepare methadone solutions. He permitted
technicians to dispense the methadone in his view but without the
ability to confirm the appropriate dosage.

The pharmacy also allowed patients to receive their methadone without
signing for it and kept records in a book that could be viewed by
other patients, the probe found.

And the investigation found that Donald Ferguson failed to label
methadone bottles individually and did not record the manufacturer or
lot number of methadone used in solutions.

The college also said pharmacy manager David Ferguson failed to
develop, maintain and enforce policies and procedures complying with
the Pharmacy Act of Nova Scotia.

Along with the seven-day suspensions, the Fergusons must attend a
day-long seminar at another methadone-dispensing pharmacy on proper
conduct and administration, and report to the college registrar what
they have learned and what changes they intend to make. Each of them
must also pay about $5,000 toward the cost of the
investigation.

OxyContin, a powerful painkiller, is a popular street drug in the
Glace Bay area, Mr. Whalen said.

"You try it four or five times and you're addicted," he
said.

"And it's a very difficult thing to get off. It's as hard as getting
off cocaine. You go through withdrawals. . . . All of a sudden,
within a week you're not wanting to do it anymore to get stoned;
you're wanting it because you need it just to survive."

There should be a proper clinic in Glace Bay to distribute methadone,
which is available in several local pharmacies, he said.

"I worry about other kids," Mr. Whalen said.

"I'm not knocking down the program in any way. It can help people.
What we are knocking down is it's not being run right. The government
just hasn't put money into it. It shouldn't be in the drugstores. It
should be in a clinic and run correctly."