Auditor General’s report on drug safety

The federal Auditor General is raising red flags about how government ensures the safety of drugs.

John Wiersema says Canada has an archaic system of monitoring that can take years to tell if some drugs come with significant risks.

In one case, a drug prescribed for epilepsy, migraines, psychiatric conditions or weight loss was found to be linked to birth defects.

But it took six months for the brand-name drug to include a warning and almost two years for generic producers to be told they had to change their labels and warnings.