The question is directed at me, I guess.
I have. I do know of the MedEffect website. Unfortunately, I would say most Canadians do not know about it.
A couple of years ago the Canadian Arthritis Patient Alliance, an organization I am involved with, met with Health Canada and went over the consumer reporting. Our feedback to them was that the current form they were using was not consumer friendly. It was not written in language that patients could understand, and the whole process was very difficult for a patient to navigate.
The other issue was--and as a patient myself I've experienced it--when I experienced an adverse reaction. When I went to my specialist and mentioned that I was experiencing this reaction, he challenged me and said, “How do you know that's not just the progression of the disease?” So in effect, I was shut down. And it wasn't up to me to decide that. It was to be reported and then for all the patients to be able to report it, and for them to find out what the reaction was.
That's why we feel there needs to be far more education, and we're really happy to see Health Canada coming out with a consumer-friendly form, because we've spent two years trying to tell them it was needed. And now it's soon to be released and it is just being tested now.
And we need to be more aware. As for the pharmacists, there needs to be an education campaign about the fact that people can report, that they can self-report. Canadians don't know that. They rely on their doctors and pharmacists. Pharmacists do the majority of reporting, but it really isn't enough.