Evidence of meeting #36 for Health in the 45th Parliament, 1st session. (The original version is on Parliament’s site, as are the minutes.) The winning word was product.
A recording is available from Parliament.
Liberal
Aslam Rana Liberal Hamilton Centre, ON
Okay.
Are there some jurisdictions, such as Australia, Europe or the U.S., that regulate natural health products in a way that balances access and safety better than Canada does?
Chief Pharmacist Officer, Canadian Pharmacists Association
I'm not aware of those situations. Our main perspective is that we would like patients to have access, but we want to have that access with safety in mind.
Liberal
Aslam Rana Liberal Hamilton Centre, ON
Okay.
Without the minister's powers to order a recall, what happens if contaminated or dangerous natural health products are on the store shelves tomorrow? What would the procedure or the course of action be to guarantee the safety of Canadians?
Chief Pharmacist Officer, Canadian Pharmacists Association
Manufacturers usually do provide that information. However, if there is no regulatory oversight, that is a voluntary ask to manufacturers. If, for any reason—I'm not talking about intentional reasons, but because of any unintentional reasons—those recalls are not being informed by manufacturers, then there might be a certain risk for the patients, who could be consuming those products while they are already on the shelf.
Pharmacists counsel patients; however, they do not have that data on hand if there is any regulatory authority, such as Health Canada, that is not able to communicate that to health care providers. If no such authority exists, then pharmacists will also not be able to inform their patients if there has been any serious recall about such products.
Liberal
The Chair Liberal Sukh Dhaliwal
Thank you very much.
With that, I want to thank the witnesses for the valuable information they shared.
Our next meeting will be on Wednesday, October 7, for clause-by-clause consideration of this bill. I remind you that the deadline to receive amendments for this bill is today at 4 p.m.
Is it the will of the committee to adjourn the meeting?