The pharmacy briefing

News & insight.

Canadian pharmacy and therapeutics news: recalls, shortages, guideline updates and developments in practice.

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5 results

Health Canada Updates Drug-Shortage Guidance on Reporting, Imports and Expiry Dates

Health Canada revised six drug and medical-device shortage guides on October 7, clarifying reporting, foreign-authorized supply and batch-specific expiry extensions. The documents explain regulated-party processes; they do not give pharmacies blanket permission to import medicines or extend expiry dates.

Oct 13, 2026 · 5 min read Read briefing

Illustrative photo of a U.S. grocery-store pharmacy aisle, not Canadian stock. Photo: Tessa Bury, Medications at a grocery store (CC BY 4.0). Source: Image source | Licence: Image source

Drug Shortages

Hospital Pharmacy Collaboration Preserves Canadian Access to Pediatric Ciprofloxacin Suspension

Mohawk Medbuy reports that hospital pharmacy advocacy helped reverse a planned discontinuation of Canada’s only commercially available ciprofloxacin oral suspension. Continued access may reduce reliance on compounded alternatives or intravenous therapy for children who cannot swallow tablets.

Sep 22, 2026 · 2 min read Read briefing

Photo: Towfiqu barbhuiya/Pexels — illustrative liquid-medication bottles, not the affected CIPRO product. Source: Image source · Pexels licence: Image source

Drug Shortages

Health Canada Designates Dacarbazine for Injection a Tier 3 Critical Shortage

Health Canada has added dacarbazine for injection, used in curative-intent regimens for Hodgkin lymphoma and metastatic melanoma, to its Tier 3 list of the most critical drug shortages -- a designation hospital oncology pharmacy teams should act on now.

Sep 19, 2026 · 2 min read Read briefing

Linda Bartlett / National Cancer Institute, via Wikimedia Commons (public domain) -- illustrative photo of a chemotherapy IV; not the affected product.

Drug Shortages

Dr. Reddy's Semaglutide Shortage Drags On as Generic Ozempic Struggles to Reach Pharmacies

Updated Sep 22, 2026: Health Canada now confirms Dr. Reddy's semaglutide shortage as actual (not just anticipated) and has newly listed Apotex's Apo-Semaglutide as an actual shortage too, driven by demand overflow -- meaning both approved Canadian generics are now officially short, while brand-name Ozempic remains stable.

Sep 13, 2026 · 7 min read Read briefing

Illustrative photo: an Ozempic (semaglutide) injection pen sold in China; Canadian packaging differs. Photo: HualinXMN, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ozempic®_3ml.jpg)

Drug Shortages

Health Canada Authorizes UK and US Imports of Injectable Cyclophosphamide Amid Tier 3 Shortage

Health Canada has authorized the exceptional importation of UK- and US-labelled cyclophosphamide for injection to relieve a Tier 3 shortage of this essential chemotherapy drug, first declared in February 2026. Hospital and oncology pharmacists need to know the differences between the Canadian, UK, and US-labelled products before dispensing or preparing doses.

Apr 10, 2026 · 3 min read Read briefing

Illustrative chemotherapy vials; not the imported products. National Cancer Institute / Unsplash. Image source