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www.insideHALTON.com | OAKVILLE BEAVER | Friday, February 20, 2015 | 10 Health Canada launches online tool for drug safety by Michael Gregory Oakville Beaver Staff A new online search tool launched by Health Canada last week will give Canadians a faster, more efficient means of accessing safety information on commonly-used medications. Oakville MP Terence Young and Halton MP and Transport Minister Lisa Raitt announced details of the Drug and Health Product Register in Glen Abbey on behalf of federal Health Minister Rona Ambrose. "Informed patients are safe patients," said Young, who has helped lead the federal government's fight against harmful drugs and medical devices. Young's teenage daughter Vanessa died approximately 15 years ago of a heart arrhythmia after suffering an adverse reaction to prescribed medication. In October 2014, Parliament adopted the Protecting Canadians from Unsafe Drugs Act, or Vanessa's Law, amending the Food and Drugs Act, and making "a quantum leap in our government's continuous improvements to patient safety over the past several years," said Young. "The transparency initiatives I am On behalf of Federal Health Minister Rona Ambrose, Oakville MP Terence Young (pictured above) and Lisa Raitt, Halton MP and Minister of Transport, announced a new online drug safety tool last week in Glen Abbey. | photo by Riziero Vertolli ­ Oakville Beaver (Follow on Twitter @halton_photog or facebook.com/HaltonPhotog) announcing today will all help reduce drug injuries and deaths like Vanessa's by helping healthcare professionals, and patients, get the information they need to reduce widespread, inappropriate, prescribing." The mobile-friendly database developed by Health Canada takes pharmaceutical information previously available through its website and provides it through a more accessible, `easy-to-use' format. "Ultimately, the goal is to make this information easier to find and understand so that Canadians can make better, informed decisions about their own health," Young said. Through the government's website (www.canada.ca), people can now find everything on what a drug is used for, safety warnings and precautions, common side effects, and adverse reactions reported to Health Canada. Health Canada said information on approximately 100 commonly-used medications is already accessible. Its aim over the coming months is to populate a list of 3,000 prescribed and over-the-counter medications, as well as other health products. Young said there is also an area on the new Health Canada search tool where anyone experiencing side effects from a product can report it. "I urge Canadians to report all serious adverse effects from drugs to help build an accurate safety profile for all drugs: you may save someone else's life," he said. Raitt, who underwent surgery in November 2014 to remove a growth on her ovaries, said she spent hours on the Internet trying to determine what side effects, if any, would result from medications prescribed to her during recovery. "I'm really excited today about this kind of app, or this kind of website, where I can go to just once and have all the information that I need that is up-to-date," Raitt said. "This will be, I really do believe, an invaluable online tool that families are going to be able to utilize." Earlier this week, in Vancouver, Ambrose announced mandatory reporting regulations that will force drug companies to report shortages, or face millions of dollars in fines. The current system is industryrun, and pharmaceutical companies are not required to comply. "When you provide advance warning of upcoming shortages, Canadians can then act pro-actively to work with their healthcare professionals and find alterative options," Raitt said on Thursday, Feb. 12. Both initiatives announced by the federal government this week are part of the Regulatory Transparency and Openness Framework and Action Plan, which aims to make more data and information available to the public. The Drug and Health Product Register can be accessed online at https://hpr-rps.hres.ca/searchrecherche-eng.php. S t y l e , S e l e c t i o n , Q u a l i t y, e x c e l l e n c e Thinking about a Softener or Reverse Osmosis system? Let us give you a quote. Free water test. Need a Cooler? Buy from us and receive Free Water. Receive 50 FREE litres of U Fill Water and we'll also give you a FREE jug to transport your water! 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