Doctor behind cross-border rush for Ozempic in B.C. is suspended in Nova Scotia | 24CA News
Nova Scotia’s College of Physicians and Surgeons has suspended a physician it says was answerable for hundreds of prescriptions of the diabetes and weight-loss drug Ozempic that had been mailed to Americans by two British Columbia pharmacies.
Dr. Gus Grant, registrar and CEO of the faculty, mentioned Thursday the regulator first heard concerning the Nova Scotia-licensed practitioner from media protection of B.C’s latest transfer to limit entry to the drug for non-residents.
Grant’s assertion identifies the physician, whose registration info with the faculty says he practises household drugs in Odessa, Texas, and graduated from Dalhousie University in 1977.
The Canadian Press will not be naming the physician, who didn’t reply to requests for remark to after-hours telephone calls.
B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix introduced the restriction final month after revealing that only one physician had been behind hundreds of prescriptions for Ozempic that had been despatched throughout the border.
Grant mentioned the Nova Scotia school additionally heard “serious concerns” from B.C.’s College of Pharmacists concerning the physician, who lives within the U.S. however is licensed in Nova Scotia as a non-resident, although he hasn’t practised drugs there “for many years.”
He mentioned B.C.’s College of Pharmacists wrote in a letter that the 2 pharmacies had stuffed greater than 17,000 prescriptions for semaglutide, the medical/non-brand title for the energetic ingredient in Ozempic, from December 2022 to February 2023.
Grant mentioned the faculty has now suspended the physician’s licence on an “interim” foundation and launched a full investigation, calling it a “serious matter.”
“Based on volume alone, the prescribing is not in keeping with the standards of the profession,” Grant mentioned in an announcement. “I cannot see how the volume of medications prescribed could possibly be supported by proper medical assessment and judgment. On its face, the prescribing appears incompetent.”
Grant mentioned it’s incumbent on medical doctors licensed in Nova Scotia to uphold correct prescription practices “whether the care is delivered in-person or by way of virtual medicine.”
Last week, B.C. Health Minister Adrian Dix introduced that the province was shifting to limit entry to Ozempic, saying an enormous advert marketing campaign coupled with social media hype had boosted demand for the drug.
Ozempic, which is used to deal with diabetes, is more and more sought out by these desirous to reduce weight, one of many drug’s so-called “off label” makes use of.
Dix mentioned that usually solely a small share of prescriptions in B.C. get stuffed for non-residents, however fears of shortages within the province ramped up when it was discovered upwards of 15 per cent of Ozempic prescriptions had been going throughout the border.
He mentioned he needed a federal authorities evaluate below the Food and Drugs Act because of the “unacceptable situation” round Ozempic prescriptions being issued by one out-of-province physician and stuffed by two unnamed Metro Vancouver pharmacies.
Americans have lengthy sought cheaper entry to Canadian pharmaceuticals, and Ozempic as a weight-loss therapy from Canadian suppliers stays cheaper than within the U.S.
“We would never have sufficient supply of Ozempic in British Columbia to satisfy the needs of the American market,” Dix mentioned in late March.
© 2023 The Canadian Press
