HEALTH CANADA PROBES OXYCODONE PRESCRIBING

Atlantic Canada Pharmacies Have Until Aug. 15 To Comply

St. John's, NFLD. - Health Canada wants to see the records of every
oxycodone prescription completed in Atlantic Canada for the first six
months of 2004.

In a letter issued to pharmacists in New Brunswick, P.E.I., Nova
Scotia and Newfoundland and Labrador, Health Canada said the review of
all sales of oxycodone is "due to increasing concerns about possible
abuse and misuse" of the drug.

Oxycodone has been linked to several deaths, as well as increased
rates of addiction in the region.

Health Canada wants to know the name and licence number of the
practitioner who wrote the prescription, as well as the patient's name
and contact details. It also wants to know the dosage quantity,
strength and form.

The letter was issued June 14 but made public only at the end of the
month.

No mention was made of possible disciplinary measures.

Dr. Andrew Major, the president of the Newfoundland and Labrador
Medical Association, said the directive "brought to the fore" a
problem that has been plaguing Atlantic Canada for years.

He added the announcement showed "that what we (East Coast doctors)
really need . . . is to have an electronic medical record, so that
when a physician sees a person in the office, the doctor will be able
to see what prescription they've had (recently)."

It will fight "double-doctoring," Dr. Major added.

The reports are to be delivered to Health Canada's office of
controlled substances by Aug. 15.