National

B.C. enacts regulation to ensure protection of Ozempic supply for diabetes patients

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 19 Apr, 2023 12:18 PM

The B-C government is taking immediate action to ensure diabetes patients have access to the drug Ozempic, which is highly effective at controlling blood sugar levels but has been overwhelmed by celebrity interest in its potent weight loss side-effects.

Health Minister Adrian Dix says the ministry is enacting a new regulation to protect not only the supply of Ozempic in B-C, but other drugs that may need the same protection in future.

The new regulation means only B-C residents, other Canadian citizens or permanent residents can buy Ozempic at provincial pharmacies – either in person or online.

The changes come after the discovery that 15 per cent of Ozempic prescriptions in the province were being filled by two Vancouver pharmacies for shipment to the United States.

Prev Next

MORE National ARTICLES

Two children dead in bus attack on Quebec daycare

The 51-year-old male driver has been arrested and faces charges of homicide and dangerous driving, Erika Landry, spokesperson with the police in Laval, Que., told reporters. The injuries suffered by the six children in hospital are not life-threatening. Authorities did not release the ages of the dead and injured children.

Two children dead in bus attack on Quebec daycare

B.C. minister says her cancer has returned

Selina Robinson told the B.C. legislature that she got the news on Jan. 27. Robinson has previously shared her 2006 diagnosis about a "rare form of intestinal cancer" in a post on social media.

B.C. minister says her cancer has returned

Federal health offer is $196 billion over a decade

There will also be an immediate one-time $2 billion top-up to this year's Canada Health Transfer to help provinces ease the intense pressure on emergency rooms and children's hospitals. Provinces can also get $1.7 billion over five years to increase wages for personal support workers in long-term care and home care.

Federal health offer is $196 billion over a decade

COVID critic died of drug toxicity: B.C. coroner

The report says Mak Parhar was found by a family member unresponsive in the bathroom of his New Westminster home on Nov. 4, 2021. The coroner's report says Parhar had ethanol, cocaine and fentanyl in his system at the time of death, ruling it accidental due to "mixed illicit drug toxicity."

COVID critic died of drug toxicity: B.C. coroner

West Fraser Timber to curtail Quesnel, B.C., mill

West Fraser says the downtime at the Cariboo mill will help the company align its production capacity, though its plans may change if the fibre forecasts do. The company says the mill expects to mitigate some of the impact on employees through vacation scheduling and alternative work assignments.

West Fraser Timber to curtail Quesnel, B.C., mill

Climate change pushes B.C. urchins to shallows

The study's co-author, Rylan Command, said heat domes and heat waves are becoming more common, and understanding how the ocean responds to those changes can have a direct impact on people.