It had been 90 days since Vinita Haroun last refilled her prescription of hydroxychloroquine, so it was time to call the pharmacy for her next three-month supply.
The 38-year-old Oakville, Ont., resident has been taking this drug every day for the past decade to treat her lupus. She says hydroxychloroquine helps her to remain stable by preventing flare-ups such as rashes on her nose, joint pain and fatigue, and limits the amount of steroids she also needs to take as well as their accompanying negative side effects.
But it wasn’t the usual pharmacy call. This time, Haroun says the pharmacist told her they had run out of the drug and were unable to order more. “There’s a lot of evidence that when you remove that drug, there’s some very bad