Startling new developments in the chemotherapy drug scandal at four Ontario hospitals, including London Health Sciences Centre.
It turns out three hospital pharmacy workers in Peterborough discovered something was wrong with their supply of chemo drugs within two hours of cracking open the first batch. The same problem at the LHSC, and three other Ontario hospitals, went undetected for nearly a year.
The revelation came in the form of testimony Tuesday before a committee at Queen's Park investigating the incident.
In Peterborough, only a single patient was administered the diluted dose before the entire supply was ordered quarantined.
By comparison, 691 patients at the LHSC were given watered down drugs between March 2012 and March 2013 before the problem was noticed.
Officials with London Health Sciences Centre were not immediately available for comment.
Pharmacy Assistants in the Peterborough Hospital mixing the drugs first noticed the problem on March 20, 2013, at 2:20 p.m.
It was the first time they had used a cancer drug mixture from Marchese Hospital Solutions of Mississauga, as they had been previously using a drug mixture supplied by another Mississauga company, Baxter CIVA.
The assistants needed intravenous bags that clearly spelled out the total drug concentration, the total volume of saline as well as the amount of active drug per millilitre of saline.
That information is vital, since the hospital pharmacy would take precise doses for several patients from a single bag.
The assistants realized the hospital did not know what Marchese was asked to supply because the drug contract was arranged for them through Durham Regional Cancer Centre.
Officials from Marchese testified Monday that they assumed each bag mixed was going to be used by a single patient, which means an overfill of saline would not be noticeable because one person would use the entire bag and presumably get the prescribed amount of drugs ordered by their doctor.
Marchese Hospital Solutions, which is operating without any regulatory oversight, provided the drugs as specified on the contract by Medbuy.
Health Canada has already announced plans for a new oversight framework for companies that supply such drugs, while lawyers continue to build the case for a class action lawsuit against the drug manufacturer.
To date, 150 patients who received the diluted cyclophosphamide and gemcitabine have died. The drugs are regularly used to treat various cancers, including those of the breast, pancreas and ovaries.
It is not clear what role, if any, the altered dosages played in their deaths.
http://www.am980.ca/news/local/story.aspx?ID=1950031
