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Swine flu

Maker asks for batch of vaccine to be held

The provinces are being asked to hold back a batch of swine flu vaccine that appears to be causing higher rates of severe allergic reactions. The vaccine's manufacturer, GlaxoSmithKline, has asked governments to stop using vaccine doses from one particular lot shipment (A80CA007A) issued in late October while the company and federal health officials investigate. Because most of the vaccine in question has already been used, the decision to withhold what's left is not expected to have an impact on overall supplies.

Politics

H1N1 diagnosis a long time coming

ST. JOHN'S, N.L. - Newfoundland and Labrador's health minister is reviewing why a 27-year-old man now in a coma with swine flu was misdiagnosed and sent home three times from hospital. Trevor King's wife, Colleen, said her husband is a non-smoker with no underlying health problems who first came down with body aches and a fever on Nov. 2. The Marystown man was sent home from hospital in nearby Burin three times during the following week before he was correctly diagnosed with H1N1, she said.

Justice

RCMP joins bid to end fake drug trade

VANCOUVER - RCMP are cautioning consumers about online ads offering swine flu treatments and cheap drugs, saying many of the products are phoney and could be dangerous to your health. The Mounties and Canada Border Services Agency say counterfeit swine flu vaccine and Tamiflu are reportedly being sold on the Internet. Other drugs that are routinely found by agents are Viagra, Cialis and Levitra. The two agencies have signed onto an international effort co-ordinated by Interpol to put a stop to the fraudulent pharmaceuticals. Mounties say organized crime is believed to behind many of the false products.

Defence

Afghan strategy in for shakeup

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - Canada's campaign against Taliban insurgents is in for an overhaul under a new commander who's concerned with the deteriorating security situation in Kandahar city and facing the prospect of taking more American forces under his wing. As he took over Thursday for Brig. Gen. Jonathan Vance as head of Task Force Kandahar, Brig.-Gen. Daniel Menard said he plans to increase troop levels in the province's dangerous capital - a marked shift from the existing strategy of focusing on rural areas southwest of the city.

Politics

New ADQ leader faces challenge

QUEBEC - Gerard Deltell, the new leader of the Action democratique du Quebec, faces a mountain to climb in re-establishing the crippled party as a credible political force. The right-leaning party has been devastated in the past year by a disastrous election performance, the resignation of its new leader after less than a month on the job, and two defections from its six-member caucus. But the 45-year-old Deltell, a longtime TV journalist first elected in last December's general election, is confident he can help lead the party back to respectability. He told a news conference Thursday he will continue pursuing the party's centre-right, provincial-autonomist vision in which the sovereignty debate gets shelved in favour of other issues like revamping Quebec's economy.