Minister vows to study safety rules after tragedy

Ontario’s health minister says he’s committed to improving safety in the pharmacy industry after meeting with the mother of an 8-year-old boy who died after allegedly being administered the wrong drug.

In March, Andrew Sheldrick died of atoxic overdose of baclofen, a muscle relaxant drug, according to a coroner’s report. Andrew had a diagnosed sleeping disorder and was on a regular prescription for tryptophan, a drug that helped regulate his sleep cycle and which his mother thought she had picked up from a Mississauga pharmacy.

But the coroner’s report concluded “logic would dictate that baclofen was substituted for tryptophan at the compounding pharmacy in error.” The family met Tuesday with Health Minister Dr. Eric Hoskins, asking him to help implement a law that would increase oversight and tracking of pharmacies that make errors.

“The hope is that we can make pharmacies safer. That’s the whole point of all this,” said Melissa Sheldrick, who called the meeting productive. “My child was taken from us because there was a careless mistake and we don’t want that to happen again. We want it to be safer, whatever that takes.”

A spokesperson for the Ministry of Health said the minister was looking into ways similar tragedies could be prevented.

“The minister had committed to looking at this and seeing if there are any steps we can take to improve transparency and safety in the pharmacy sector and that’s exactly what we committed to doing with her,” the spokesperson said.

Nova Scotia is the only province where pharmacists must report all errors to the Institute for Safe Medication Practices Canada, a not-forprofit organization committed to preventing medication errors.

“We are looking to bring the same model in Nova Scotia to Ontario. We do think that is the optimal approach,” said Sylvia Hyland, the institute’s vice-president and chief operating officer. “It’s a complex environment that we work in and it’s ever-changing. We need to have programs where we can share information with each other about problems that might be occurring or could occur.”

Drug Safety Canada chair Terence Young, the Conservative MP for Oakville from 2008-2015 and previously an MPP in Ontario, said without increased transparency “nothing will change, errors will continue.

“When a child dies from being given the wrong drug, it’s frightening for people” said Young, whose 15-yearold daughter Vanessa died in 2000 after taking a prescription drug.