Canada's Health Products and Food Branch Inspectorate (Inspectorate) has recently published a Summary Report on the on-site compliance inspections it conducted earlier this year of Canadian pharmacies selling prescription drugs via the Internet or via other forms of distance dispensing, such as mail order.
The Inspectorate assessed 11 selected pharmacies for compliance with the Food and Drugs Act (Act) and Food and Drugs Regulations (Regulations), which establish the regulatory regime relating to the sale of prescription drugs in Canada.
Overall, the Inspectorate found that the pharmacies' activities were in compliance with the Act and Regulations, and that the products being sold were approved for sale in Canada. Several areas of non-compliance, however, were observed, including that:
- temperature-sensitive drug products were being packaged and shipped in a way that could risk exposure of the products to temperatures potentially affecting their safety and effectiveness;
- prescription drugs were being supplied wholesale without the proper license; and
- prescriptions were signed with rubber stamps or electronic signatures, which are not valid written prescriptions as required by the Regulations.