October 2005
Labelling and Packaging Issues of Pharmaceuticals – Meeting with StakeholdersA collaborative meeting of stakeholders, co-led by ISMP Canada and the Canadian
Patient Safety Institute (CPSI), and supported by Health Canada, was held in Toronto on September 20, 2005. Representatives from Canada’s Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies (Rx&D), Canadian Generic Pharmaceutical Association (CGPA), the Canadian Society of Hospital Pharmacists (CSHP), the Canadian Standards Association (CSA), Canadian Emergency Health Services, Canadian Anesthesiologists’ Society, ISMP (U.S.), the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), HealthPRO Procurement Services Inc., Medbuy Corporation, Baxter Corporation (Canada), Hospira Healthcare Corporation and select pharmaceutical manufacturers were in attendance.
The intent of the meeting was to discuss concerns related to medication labelling and packaging, and to develop a consolidated approach for prioritizing issues and for implementing recommendations regarding medication label and package enhancements. An example of a high priority item is the labelling of neuromuscular blocking agents.
Incident reporting was identified as a key component in the understanding of medication safety issues and development of prevention strategies. Stakeholders were asked to encourage their members to report medication incidents to the Canadian Medication Incident Reporting and Prevention System (CMIRPS) for shared learning. See ISMP Canada website (www.ismp-canada.org) for information about CMIRPS.
ISMP Canada and CPSI, with the support of Health Canada, will be collaborating to create Terms of Reference for a formalized group to move forward with addressing pharmaceutical labelling and packaging issues.
