Download Flash Player to view this content.

White Coat Black Art | Sep 3, 2012 | 9:35

The Drug Shortage: A mother's story

For Christine Sorensen, in Kamloops, B.C. the drug shortage has been a near disaster. Her 14-year-old son Derek has a rare form of epilepsy. His seizures can be controlled by one drug -- called Zarontin. Without it, he could die. As she told Brian, via skype, it's an older drug which is now impossible to find in Canada.

Now Playing on CBC Radio Help Refresh

CBC Radio One

Listen Live Ottawa change

Now Playing:

The World This Weekend06:00 PM to 06:30 PM - EDT

CBC Radio 2

Listen Live Eastern change

Now Playing:

Saturday Night Blues06:00 PM to 08:00 PM - EDT

CBC Radio 3

Listen Live Radio 3

Now Playing:

Program information temporarily unavailable.
See what is playing on all streams > Check out the brand new CBC Music service with 40 online radio stations.

3 of 8

Sort by:
Featured
Most Recent
Most Popular
White Coat Black Art - Nagui's ChoiceSep 8, 2012 | 27:30White Coat Black Art Nagui's Choice Audio
White Coat Black Art Nagui's Choice Sep 8, 2012 | 27:30Nagui Morcos - ill with Huntington's disease - was one of very few people in Canada to publicly declare a desire to end his own life. We have an exclusive final interview in which he and his partner Jan Crowley talk about Nagui's agonizing decision.
White Coat Black Art - The Drug ShortageSep 3, 2012 | 27:30White Coat Black Art The Drug Shortage Audio
White Coat Black Art The Drug Shortage Sep 3, 2012 | 27:30There's a critical shortage of essential prescription drugs in Canada. Hear from an anesthesiologist in Halifax and others who say the system is broken and the lives of patients are in danger.
White Coat Black Art - The Drug Shortage: extended interview, Dr. Jackie DuffinSep 3, 2012 | 13:25White Coat Black Art The Drug Shortage: extended interview, Dr. Jackie Duffin Audio
White Coat Black Art The Drug Shortage: extended interview, Dr. Jackie Duffin Sep 3, 2012 | 13:25Dr. Jackie Duffin is a medical historian, hematologist and cancer specialist at Queen's University in Kinsgton. Her own personal brush with a shortage of blood pressure pills led Jackie to set up a website that lists which drugs are currently in short supply and looks at the reasons for the shortage. Here is our extended interview with her.
White Coat Black Art - The Drug Shortage: A mother's storySep 3, 2012 | 9:35White Coat Black Art The Drug Shortage: A mother's story Audio
White Coat Black Art The Drug Shortage: A mother's story Sep 3, 2012 | 9:35For Christine Sorensen, in Kamloops, B.C. the drug shortage has been a near disaster. Her 14-year-old son Derek has a rare form of epilepsy. His seizures can be controlled by one drug -- called Zarontin. Without it, he could die. As she told Brian, via skype, it's an older drug which is now impossible to find in Canada.
White Coat Black Art - The Drug Shortage: Dr. Rick HallSep 3, 2012 | 8:27White Coat Black Art The Drug Shortage: Dr. Rick Hall Audio
White Coat Black Art The Drug Shortage: Dr. Rick Hall Sep 3, 2012 | 8:27As an anesthesiologist and critical care specialist at QEII Health Sciences Centre in Halifax, Dr. Rick Hall faces constant drug shortages. Earlier this year, he surveyed colleagues across Canada. Hall has submitted the survey results for publication - but he was willing to share exclusively with us some of his findings and his frustrations when we talked to him in our Halifax studio last month.
White Coat Black Art - The Drug Shortage: Dr. Brian WarrinerSep 3, 2012 | 8:56White Coat Black Art The Drug Shortage: Dr. Brian Warriner Audio
White Coat Black Art The Drug Shortage: Dr. Brian Warriner Sep 3, 2012 | 8:56Last March St. Paul's and Vancouver General Hospital made the decision to cancel some elective surgery due to the drug shortage. It turned out to be a false alarm. But as Dr. Brian Warriner -- head of the Department of Anesthesiology - told us, it was also a warning of what the future might hold.
White Coat Black Art - The Drug ShortageL: Alena RossnagelSep 3, 2012 | 8:58White Coat Black Art The Drug ShortageL: Alena Rossnagel Audio
White Coat Black Art The Drug ShortageL: Alena Rossnagel Sep 3, 2012 | 8:58Alena Rossnagel, a clinical nutritionist in Manitoba regularly took trimethoprim, for urinary tract infections caused by a kidney stone. One day last spring her pharmacist told her trimethoprim wasn't available. She was given another drug instead -- one that left her with permanent health damage. We reached her at her home in Portage La Prairie.
White Coat Black Art - The Drug Shortage: Mario BedardSep 3, 2012 | 6:24White Coat Black Art The Drug Shortage: Mario Bedard Audio
White Coat Black Art The Drug Shortage: Mario Bedard Sep 3, 2012 | 6:24Often, protecting patients from those risks is the job of the hospital pharmacist. That's no easy task. Right now, The Ottawa Hospital lists more than one hundred drugs in short supply. Brian asked Mario Bedard -- head of the hospital's pharmacy -- what he does when he's told a drug is in short supply.
White Coat Black Art - Drug shortage: Sneak peak of our first episodeAug 21, 2012 | 6:55White Coat Black Art Drug shortage: Sneak peak of our first episode Audio
White Coat Black Art Drug shortage: Sneak peak of our first episode Aug 21, 2012 | 6:55In advance of our first episode of the season, Brian talks to Paul Castle, host of the CBC afternoon show Shift in Saint John about the current drug shortages and what you'll hear on the first episode of White Coat, Black Art this season.
White Coat Black Art - Ask Dr. BrianDec 31, 2011 | 27:30White Coat Black Art Ask Dr. Brian Audio
White Coat Black Art Ask Dr. Brian Dec 31, 2011 | 27:30In our season finale, host Dr. Brian Goldman answers listeners' questions about how and why the health care system works the way it does.
White Coat Black Art - Dr. Jeffrey Brenner: The hotspot guru - full interviewDec 30, 2011 | 26:50White Coat Black Art Dr. Jeffrey Brenner: The hotspot guru - full interview Audio
White Coat Black Art Dr. Jeffrey Brenner: The hotspot guru - full interview Dec 30, 2011 | 26:50This week we told you about "hot spotting": using data to find out who is using the health care system the most, and then targeting care to those spots to help people get healthy, and bring costs to the system down. We looked at a Canadian hot spot in Saskatoon, but we also talked to the U.S. doctor who coined the phrase and who first mined the data. Dr. Jeffrey Brenner spoke to Brian about how he found the hotspots and the kind of disruptive change it takes to cool them down. Click here for our full interview with Dr. Jeffrey Brenner.
White Coat Black Art - Generation Rx - Part 1Dec 27, 2011 | 24:00White Coat Black Art Generation Rx - Part 1 Audio
White Coat Black Art Generation Rx - Part 1 Dec 27, 2011 | 24:00Prescription narcotics are increasingly popular with young people looking for a quick high. It's a huge concern since these painkillers can be highly addictive or even deadly.
White Coat Black Art - Generation Rx - Part 2Dec 27, 2011 | 23:00White Coat Black Art Generation Rx - Part 2 Audio
White Coat Black Art Generation Rx - Part 2 Dec 27, 2011 | 23:00Prescription narcotics are increasingly popular with young people looking for a quick high. It's a huge concern since these painkillers can be highly addictive or even deadly.
White Coat Black Art - InspiredDec 24, 2011 | 27:30White Coat Black Art Inspired Audio
White Coat Black Art Inspired Dec 24, 2011 | 27:30On this holiday edition of the show, stories about how doctors were inspired to take the career path they chose.
White Coat Black Art - Not the ERDec 17, 2011 | 27:30White Coat Black Art Not the ER Audio
White Coat Black Art Not the ER Dec 17, 2011 | 27:30On the show, the impact of crowded ERs and long waits. Host Dr. Brian Goldman speaks with another ER physician about why it's always worrisome when patients get tired of waiting and leave the ER without being seen.

3 of 8