Mom scrambling to find drug that prevents life-threatening allergic reaction

A mother from Lower Sackville, N.S., is desperately searching for a medication that helps prevent her son from going into anaphylactic shock, but a shortage of the product means he only has a few pills left.

Lorrena Clee's 33-year-old son, Presley Clee-Ferguson, takes ranitidine tablets sold under the brand name Zantac as part of his treatment for mast cell activation disorder, which affects the immune system.

He also has Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a degenerative disease that deforms the body's connective tissues and causes chronic pain.

Clee said that when her son, who also has autism, comes into contact with bacteria, viruses or allergens, "instead of getting sick, it triggers his mast cells and the mast cells go after the histamine and your body releases large amounts of histamine, which causes hives and anaphylaxis."

Anaphylaxis can lead to shock, swelling of skin and the airways, and can be fatal.

While Zantac is best known for treating ulcers and gastroesophageal reflux disease, it's also used to block histamines, which is why Clee-Ferguson takes it.

'Doesn't have the dyes and the fillers'

Clee said her son takes a 150-milligram oral tablet with drug identification number 02212331 manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline.

Clee said switching to a similar medication manufactured by another company isn't an option because the formulation used in the GlaxoSmithKline product is the only one he can tolerate without having a reaction. 

"It doesn't have the dyes and the fillers that the other brands have," said Clee.

GlaxoSmithKline did not respond to CBC's requests for comment. 

Multiple shortages for ranitidine

According to drugshortagescanada.ca, which is the website where drug shortages and discontinuations in Canada are reported, there are multiple shortages for ranitidine. 

For the specific formulation used by Clee's son, the reason is difficulty obtaining an ingredient needed for manufacturing the product.

Clee learned of the shortage when she went to get her son's prescription refilled last Thursday and was told by the pharmacist there wasn't any more product available.

Clee said she spent Friday calling pharmacies in the province to see if anyone had some of the medication on hand and spoke with the product manufacturer about the shortage.

The company confirmed the shortage and said it wasn't sure when it would be getting more of the ingredient to continue manufacturing the product, said Clee.

Rationing a dwindling supply

As of Tuesday, Clee-Ferguson had four tablets and was rationing them, foregoing the usual two-a-day dosage to one to make it last longer.

Clee has searched online to find the medication, but despite what's being advertised, she has no way of knowing whether the drug being offered is legit.

She said testing out a new product requires going to an allergy immunologist and conducting tests to see if the medication creates any complications for her son.

"He's at the point where he's terrified to even put anything into his mouth because he's so scared of having a reaction," she said.