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Health Canada has replaced the physician who headed the department's Therapeutic Products Directorate (TPD) with a political scientist and career bureaucrat.
Dr. Robert Peterson, who headed the directorate for the last 5 years, left Feb. 23 to become a Professor and Associate Head of Pediatrics, Community Child Health at the University of British Columbia, and Director of BC's Provincial Child Health Network.
Peterson's replacement, Omer Boudreau, has spent most of his career in program management and human resources. Within Health Canada, he was associate director general in the therapeutic products division. Boudreau, who holds a degree in political science, was also a senior manager in Transport Canada, and Veterans Affairs Canada.
The Therapeutic Products Directorate regulates drugs and medical devices, serving as the Canadian equivalent to the US Food and Drugs Administration.
The change in director general came as Health Minister Ujjal Dosanjh announced a major overhaul of the drug approval system to permit more public input into both pre-approval and postmarketing surveillance of drugs, and to create a more open and transparent process (see page 864).