XPost: can.politics   
   From: gregcarrsober@gmail.com   
      
   National registry needed to track unnatural deaths, Ontario MP says   
      
      
      
      
   Auditor general suggested as overseer to ensure federal government responds   
      
      
      
   By Douglas Quan, Postmedia NewsJanuary 25, 2014true   
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
      
   A Conservative MP says he wants a national registry created to track   
   causes of all unnatural deaths in Canada.   
      
   Terence Young, a backbencher from Oakville, Ont., was reacting to a   
   Postmedia News series examining this country's patchwork system of   
   coroner's inquests and fatality inquiries Young also suggested that the   
   auditor general could be tapped to monitor federal agencies' responses   
   to recommendations from inquests and inquiries, as compliance is a "very   
   big problem."   
      
   The death inquest system is a topic that Young knows well. In 2000, his   
   15-year-old daughter, Vanessa, died suddenly after taking the   
   prescription medication, Prepulsid, to treat a stomach disorder. Young   
   has been on a crusade ever since to get action on dozens of   
   recommendations from a coroner's jury aimed at improving drug safety in   
   Canada.   
      
   "Coroners' reports with recommendations, once they've been replied to   
   are basically a dead letter. No one follows up. ... It's a very big   
   problem," Young said. "All the organizations that get them should be   
   more accountable."   
      
   Postmedia's investigation found that scores of recommendations from   
   inquests and inquiries over the years have gone unheeded or ignored,   
   despite their potential to prevent future deaths.   
      
   Part of the problem is that provincial governments devote few resources   
   to tracking recommendations. Nor are they doing a very good job of   
   sharing findings with each other and identifying trends.   
      
   "When I want to try to find out how many deaths were caused by   
   prescription drugs, shortly after Vanessa died, no one knows," Young said.   
      
   Officials with Statistics Canada confirmed late Friday that the agency   
   does collect death investigation records from coroners and medical   
   examiner offices but could not provide further details about how data is   
   organized. The agency's website states the aim of the database is to   
   identify "emerging and known safety hazards."   
      
   In 2001, the coroner's jury that examined the death of Young's daughter   
   issued 59 recommendations to Health Canada, the pharmaceutical industry,   
   Ontario's College of Physicians and Surgeons and that province's health   
   ministry, calling for mandatory reporting of adverse drug reactions, as   
   well as better drug labelling and communication to the public about   
   warnings or risks associated with drugs.   
      
   Nine years later, another coroner's jury delivered many of the same   
   recommendations after examining the death of 18-year-old Sara Carlin,   
   who committed suicide while taking the anti-depressant medication Paxil.   
      
   That jury heard that a Health Canada advisory had warned that Paxil   
   should not be used by children under 18 (Sara was 17 when prescribed the   
   medication) and that there was evidence taking the drug could increase   
   the risk of suicidal thinking.   
      
   Yet, many of the recommendations still went unheeded - "nothing   
   significant changed," Young said - prompting the MP to initiate   
   face-to-face meetings with Health Canada regulators a couple of years ago.   
      
   The outcome of those discussions was Vanessa's Law, which was introduced   
   in December by Young alongside Health Minister Rona Ambrose. The   
   proposed legislation would require hospitals to report serious adverse   
   drug reactions directly to Health Canada; increase maximum penalties for   
   failing to pull unsafe drugs off shelves to $5 million per day from   
   $5,000 per day; allow Health Canada to recall unsafe products; and allow   
   Health Canada to compel drug companies to revise labels to reflect risks   
   and to compel companies to do further testing when issues are   
   identified. Still, Young can't get over the fact that recommendations   
   from those previous inquests weren't acted on sooner. That's why he   
   thinks the auditor general of Canada's office could be "ideal" for   
   monitoring federal agencies' compliance with inquest recommendations.   
      
   "When they publish their reports everyone sits down, everyone in Ottawa   
   pays close attention," he said.   
      
   © Copyright (c) The Vancouver Sun   
   http://www.vancouversun.com/story_print.html?id=9429378&sponsor=true   
      
   Seems like a great idea and increase the Auditor-General`s budget and   
   staff while your at it Mr.PM.   
      
      
      
      
      
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