Our Conservative government is always striving to protect the safety of Canadians.
Recently, a bill brought forward by MP Terrence Young called Vanessa’s Law (Bill C-17) passed third reading and has moved on to the Senate.
The bill is named in honour of Young’s daughter, Vanessa, who passed away in 2000 due to complications from a prescribed medication.
“Once implemented, Vanessa’s Law will save innumerable lives a year in Canada, and prevent tens of thousands of injuries,” said Young. “It is difficult to overstate the importance of this bill to patient safety. This is a generational change.”
This law would give the Minister of Health new tools to better respond to drug safety issues. This includes the ability to recall unsafe drugs, to require mandatory adverse reaction reporting by health care facilities and to impose stiff financial penalties to those disseminating unsafe drugs.
Further amendments to the law would enhance transparency in the decisions made by Health Canada, provide greater information in the administration of clinical trials and disclose business information related to pharmaceuticals.
Vanessa’s Law would make biologics, medical devices and pharmaceutical drugs safer for all Canadians.
According to Minister of Health Rona Ambrose, “The powers included in Vanessa’s Law would enable us to take drug safety to a new level. With the amendments brought forward by my colleague Terence Young, it would now also provide Canadian patients and safety experts with information they have long been calling for.”
