Complaint prompts recall of birth control pills prescribed in Canada
Feb. 16, 2026 — CTV News
Two brands of birth control pills prescribed in Canada have been recalled due to packaging error. The public advisory posted late last week warns users not to skip any doses, and to get to a pharmacy for a replacement or alternative if possible. The recall by Teva Canada Inc. followed a complaint from a user who noted a package of the pills was “missing an entire blister card,” the notice from Friday said. READ MORE
Blood pressure medication recalled in Canada after potential mix-up with wrong drug
Feb. 10, 2026 — Toronto Star
A medication used to treat high blood pressured has been recalled after a mix-up potentially resulted in some bottles containing a drug intended for those with low blood pressure. Marcan Pharmaceuticals Inc. has recalled two lots of MAR-Amlodipine 5 milligram tablets, which are used to treat high blood pressure and chest pain, according to Health Canada. Some bottles may instead contain 2.5 milligram tablets of midodrine, used to treat low blood pressure. READ MORE
B.C. research ‘opens the door’ to more effective cancer therapies
Feb. 16, 2026 — Canadian Affairs
Canadian researchers have discovered a way to speed up the production of cell therapies to treat cancer. Cell therapies have become a more common way to treat cancers in recent years, but these therapies are expensive and can take a long time to produce. Researchers at the University of British Columbia and B.C. Children’s Hospital Research Institute have recently discovered how to use stem cells to create the immune cells needed for effective cell therapy. READ MORE
Ottawa says national security incident, error at emergency stockpile unrelated
Feb. 16, 2026 — The Canadian Press
There was no connection between a national security incident at the country’s emergency stockpile warehouse in 2024 and an error that caused the loss of $20-million of medication, according to the Public Health Agency of Canada. The agency is correcting a statement one of its top officials made at a House of Commons committee last week. The committee had been investigating an incident in December 2024, in which the agency lost $20 million worth of pharmaceutical products from the National Emergency Stockpile after a freezer door came open. READ MORE
B.C. ends drug decriminalization, but needs to start charging for possession again: MLA
Feb. 15, 2026 — National Post
It didn’t work. B.C.’s drug decriminalization plan is a fail. The radical experiment died at the end of January. The province’s health minister admitted the pilot program “hasn’t delivered the results that we hoped for. Decriminalization — the pilot at least — is over,” says the Independent MLA for Surrey-Cloverdale, Elenore Sturko, a former RCMP officer and long-time foe of B.C.’s soft-on-drugs approach. Elenore is worried the province’s step-back isn’t enough; she says the province now needs to commit to charge people for possession of the hard stuff: cocaine, methamphetamine, MDMA, and opioids like heroin and fentanyl. She says B.C. Premier David Eby started to dial back on the experiment in 2024, but the free-for-all continued in public places. READ MORE
PrescribeIT being shut down due to low adoption rates as Infoway looks to promote open e-prescribing standard
Feb. 12, 2026 — Canadian Healthcare Network (Create a CHN account to access the article for free here)
Canada Health Infoway says its PrescribeIT program is shutting down due to low adoption rates and will instead move to promote an open e-prescribing standard. In a statement posted to the PrescribeIT website on Thursday, Infoway says the service “has not reached the scale required to support long-term sustainability, particularly in the absence of broader system levers. As a result, and following extensive collaboration with governments and health system partners to explore all viable sustainability options, an open-standards approach has been established as the future pathway for e-prescribing in Canada,” the federally funded non-profit said. READ MORE
Women’s heart symptoms can look different, expert warns
Feb. 13, 2026 — CTV News
Heart disease remains the leading cause of death for women worldwide, yet it is still widely under-recognized, underdiagnosed and undertreated, according to one health expert. “Wear Red Day,” which in Canada is recognized on Feb. 13 — being recognized Feb. 13, urges Canadians to learn the warning signs and understand the risks women face when it comes to heart health. “We’re learning more and more each day about how heart disease uniquely affects women,” nurse practitioner and researcher Rachel Ollivier said in an interview with CTV Your Morning Thursday. READ MORE
Canada’s too-strict drug price controls are a health hazard
Feb. 12, 2026 — The Globe and Mail
Imagine learning that a lifesaving drug exists, but is not available in Canada. Canadians have been told that strict drug price controls are designed to protect patients. In theory, keeping prices low sounds like a compassionate policy choice, but in practice, it has some serious side effects. Simply put, our “cut prices first, ask questions later” approach makes Canada less attractive for pharmaceutical launches, delays access for patients, and ultimately limits the availability of innovative treatments. At the end of the day, cheap medications are great, but only if we can actually get them. READ MORE