Tampered eye drugs were distributed in Newfoundland and Labrador, documents show

May 18, 2023

Thousands of patients in Newfoundland and Labrador could have received tampered eye medications without their knowledge for several years, documents obtained by CBC News reveal. 

The drugs in question are injectable doses of Eylea and Lucentis, used to treat age-related macular degeneration. More than two million Canadians suffer from the condition, the leading cause of irreversible vision loss. 

The drugs come in single-use pristine vials directly from the manufacturer, but a whistleblower has uncovered evidence that the vials were being tampered with to create multiple doses.

Ken Dicks, a pharmacist in central Newfoundland, sounded the alarm with provincial authorities in 2015 after he became suspicious that the drugs were being split into several doses at a pharmacy in Ontario and distributed into Newfoundland and Labrador

"It's incredibly risky behaviour that is interfering with a commercial product, which is illegal," said Dicks. 

The manufacturer of the drugs and Health Canada say that dose-splitting can increase the risk of contamination and subsequent infection.

Documents dated between June 2015 and August 2016 and obtained under the provincial Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (ATIPPA) — while heavily redacted — confirmed that dose-split products were entering and being distributed in Newfoundland and Labrador.

CBC News has identified the Ontario pharmacy in question as Advanced Care Specialty Pharmacy. The business operated out of a 65,000-square-foot facility in Oakville, just west of Toronto. According to the Ontario College of Pharmacists, the pharmacy closed in July 2021.

Under Section 8 of Canada's Food and Drugs Act, "no person shall sell any drug that (a) was manufactured, prepared, preserved, packaged or stored under unsanitary conditions; or (b) is adulterated."

CBC