Requests approaching 50,000 annually for emergency drug release program

Health Canada's Emergency Drug Release Program, which allows physicians to acquire nonmarketed drugs to treat people with HIV infection, AIDS and other illnesses, handles about 44 000 requests annually. The executive director of the Drugs Directorate says the program's name is a misnomer, since few of the requests involve medical emergencies. Dr. Philip Berger, who uses the program for his AIDS patients, complains that the amount of paperwork required is oppressive. A government spokesperson says changes may be made to make the program less labour intensive.