Advisory Notice to all Pharmacists & Pharmacies - August 17, 2010
OCP Position re: Sale of Non-Approved Marketed Health Products
Dear Colleague:
In December 2009 the Council of the Ontario College of Pharmacists approved the adoption of the national position statement of the National Association of Pharmacy Regulatory Authorities (NAPRA) concerning the sale of Non-Approved Marketed Health Products.
New regulations from Health Canada promulgated on August 4, 2010 allow the legal sale of a category of products for which Health Canada has not yet issued a product licence but has completed an initial assessment to ensure that information supporting the safety, efficacy and quality of the product has been provided and that specific safety criteria have been met. This category of products will receive an Exemption Number (EN) from Health Canada.
Accordingly, the position statement has been revised as follows:
“Pharmacists should not sell a marketed health product without a Drug Identification Number (DIN), Natural Health Product Number (NPN), Drug Identification Number for Homeopathic Medicine (DIN-HM), or an Exemption Number (EN).”
Pharmacists are advised not to purchase or accept for sale any marketed health products, including natural health products, that do not possess a DIN, NPN, DIN-HM, or EN.
- A copy of the updated position statement in PDF format can be found on the NAPRA website.
- A full list of exempt NHPs can be found in the Exempted Products Database on the NHPD website and this should be consulted if there is any uncertainty with respect to the exemption or product licensing status of a product.
- Health Canada’s NHP Compliance and Enforcement policy and Q&As may be found on the Health Canada website
Yours truly,
Original signed by:
Deanna L. Williams, R.Ph., B.Sc.Phm., C.Dir., CAE
Registrar
