Dispensary Corner

CANADIAN pharmacists have once again proven their willingness to go the extra mile to help patients access lifesaving medications.

Pharmacists across Western Canada raced to find a rare drug, which has not been licenced in the country after a one-yearold boy ate raccoon feces while playing in his family’s garden.

After discovering that raccoon poop can contain potentially deadly Baylisascaris procyonis roundworm eggs, which hatch into larvae that invade host organs, including the eyes and brain, the boy’s parents contacted their GP and the province’s Poison and Drug Information Service, which advised them to sit tight and see if he developed symptoms.

However, unwilling to waste any time in getting a diagnosis, the parents took a stool sample to a veterinarian, who confirmed their worse fears, with too many eggs to count found in the kid’s poop.

The toddler was then rushed to a hospital emergency room where he was prescribed albendazole, which needed to be taken within three days of exposure, however it proved difficult to track down.

When pharmacist, Bryce Barry, heard about the need to get the script filled he got to work contacting suppliers to no avail, before turning to a friend, Dawson Bremner, in Vancouver, who had opened a compounding pharmacy there.

Bremner then turned to a pharmaceutical representative, who mass emailed his client list across the country, with Calgarybased Script Pharmacy coming to the rescue.

Despite having not compounded the anti-parasitic medication in more than a decade the pharmacy was able to deliver the drug within 56 hours and save the child’s life.