Health Canada’s oxycodone approval prompts questions about screening process

OTTAWA – Health Canada’s recent decision to approve an addictive, generic form of the popular painkiller oxycodone is raising questions about the agency’s approval process.

Drug approval is based on clinical trials performed by the pharmaceutical companies themselves, with no independent review.

And one expert says those manufacturers often only compare their products to sugar pills, not painkiller alternatives.

Health Canada says it “rigorously” assesses the safety and efficacy of all drugs before deciding whether to approve them, with a primary focus on the needs and safety of patients.

But Dr. David Juurlink, a clinical pharmacologist and drug safety researcher at Toronto’s Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, calls the agency’s criteria “inscrutable,” since they’re not subject to external analysis.

Juurlink says Canadians and doctors alike would be alarmed to discover how little is known about the way drugs are approved in Canada.

The government says it has implemented strict controls in the public drug plan run by Health Canada.