Inspection missed watered-down cancer drugs

A regulatory inspection was done while chemotherapy drugs were being watered down by a local pharmacy.

The Ontario College of Pharmacists did a routine inspection this past January of Marchese Hospital Solutions, which is located in Mississauga and run by the award-winning pharmacy on James Street North.

From Feb. 24, 2012 to March 20, 2013, diluted chemotherapy drugs cyclophosphamide and gemcitabine were given to 1,176 patients in London, Windsor, Peterborough, the Oshawa area and Saint John, N.B.

The challenge is that its possible to do a thorough inspection of that practice and that doesnt necessarily mean that you are going to detect an error, said Lori DeCou, spokesperson for the college, speaking generally about pharmacy inspections.

The college accredits the provinces 3,500 community pharmacies and inspects them every three to five years. It also regulates the pharmacists who mix the drugs.

The college didnt discover the problem with the chemotherapy drugs. Instead, a Peterborough hospital pharmacy worker noticed by chance one of the bags looked too full.

I will trust that the college is doing what theyre supposed to be doing, said NDP health critic France Glinas. I hope theyre doing their job.

Cancer Care Ontario, the provincial government agency that oversees the health system and the college, both set rigorous standards for preparing drugs, said Zita Astravas, spokesperson for Health Minister Deb Matthews.

Drugs prepared on site within a hospital pharmacy are subject to multiple process checks throughout the compounding process including calculation checks, visual inspection, volume checks and formula checks.

Marchese president Marita Zaffiro, a past Hamilton citizen of the year, has refused repeated interview requests by The Spectator. In a statement earlier this week, she said the problem was in how the hospitals administered the drugs and not in how they were prepared.

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Inspection missed watered-down cancer drugs