Sandoz Canada and possible drug shortage

Report alerted government to potential drug shortages four years ago

By Pauline Tam, The Ottawa Citizen March 26, 2012 6:53 PM

OTTAWA — The federal government ignored a warning by one of its own agencies about the potential for a nationwide medication shortage nearly four years before the current crisis caused by Sandoz Canada.

The warning, contained in a 2008 report by the federal Competition Bureau, flagged then-Industry Minister Tony Clement to the dangers of dwindling competition among some generic-drug makers.

According to the report, the lack of competition “could lead to shortages when winning bidders are unable to meet demand.”

The agency expressed particular concern about the three drug buyers for the nation’s hospitals, whose heavy reliance on a single supplier, Sandoz, resulted in fewer firms bidding to make the older “workhorse” drugs at the centre of the current ongoing shortage.

The dependence on a lone supplier “could lead to an erosion of the Canadian generic manufacturing base and a high level of concentration and a lack of competition among Canadian generic manufacturers,” the agency said.

A leading drug-policy expert pointed to the report as evidence of federal failure to protect Canadians from the current drug shortage.

“The Competition Bureau warned about this problem,” said Amir Attaran, a professor of health law at the University of Ottawa. “The minister didn’t do anything about it at the time. The danger is now here so the federal government needs to investigate.”

Attaran urged Industry Minister Christian Paradis, who oversees the Competition Bureau, to launch a public inquiry into the generic-drugs industry.

Sandoz is the sole supplier of more than 140 generic injectable painkillers, sedatives and antibiotics, or about half of all such medications used by Canadian hospitals.

In recent months, the company’s troubled plant in Boucherville, Que., has been plagued by quality-control lapses, a recent fire and reports of mislabelled drugs.

“How is it that Sandoz acquired such a big market share? Nobody knows because nobody has investigated,” said Attaran, who studies how trade laws affect a country’s access to drugs.

Paradis’s office declined comment, referring calls from the Citizen to Health Minister Leona Aglukkaq. However, Attaran insists Paradis has the power, under federal competition laws, to act.

The Competition Bureau conducted its 2008 study to determine why prices for generic drugs seemed to be higher in Canada than many other countries.

The report concluded that pharmacies weren’t passing enough savings onto consumers, even though, in most cases, there was ample competition among the country’s generic drug makers.

However, the report singled out the practices of the nation’s three bulk drug buyers — HealthPro Canada, Medbuy and Sigma Santé — as a cause for concern.

In an effort to get the best deal for taxpayers, the bulk buyers have in recent years pooled together the purchasing power of hospitals across the country and sought bids from suppliers willing to provide large quantities of generic drugs at the lowest prices possible.

However, two major consequences of such competitive tendering have been a limited number of large contracts for which generic drug makers could bid and tighter profit margins for the winning bidders.

As a result, many companies have simply abandoned the business, leaving just one or two players in the market, the 2008 study concluded.

Attaran, who holds the Canada Research Chair in Law, Population Health and Global Development Policy, said the federal government, not the bulk buyers, should have acted to prevent the current shortage. “It’s the federal government that can see what the market looks like and whether there is a de facto monopoly emerging that would create the risk of these shortages.”

Attaran’s view is disputed by Sheridan Scott, the former competition commissioner who oversaw the generic-drugs study.

Under the federal competition act, the industry minister or any six Canadians could file a complaint with the Competition Bureau, but only if there is clear evidence that a company engaged in anti-competitive practices that would be considered illegal, Scott said.

“You have to be complaining about price fixing or a merger that significantly lessens competition,” said Scott, a competition lawyer whose past clients have included Teva Canada, a generic-drug maker. “I’m not sure if the (current drug) shortages flow from the competitive dynamic.”

The Competition Bureau declined to say whether the agency has received any public complaints related to the drug shortage, or if an investigation has been launched. “By law, the bureau is obliged to conduct its work confidentially,” said spokesman Greg Scott.

Health Canada acts to stem drug shortage

OTTAWA— Health Canada has given market approval to two new generic drugs and one brand-name product that, it says, could help ease a nationwide medications shortage.

One of the generic drugs is ondansetron, an injectable anti-nausea medication that could be used to treat cancer patients suffering the side effects of chemotherapy. The drug is made by Accord Healthcare Inc., an Indian pharmaceuticals company with Canadian operations.

The other drug is rocuronium bromide, an injectable muscle relaxant used in anesthesia. Omega Laboratories Ltd. is the Canadian manufacturer of the drug.

Also approved is a brand-name drug called Aloxi, an anti-nausea medication made by Eisai Ltd., a Japanese drug maker with a branch in Canada.

Health Canada said it fast-tracked the approval of all three drugs to help health-care providers access replacement drugs they would normally get from Sandoz’s plant in Boucherville, Que.

All three companies applied to the federal drug regulator for permission to sell their medications before the start of the shortage caused by production slowdowns at Sandoz’s Boucherville facility.

Read more: http://www.ottawacitizen.com/health/Report+alerted+government+potential+drug+shortages+four+years/6362014/story.html#ixzz1qGeCbhvR

Case Questions:

1.            What is the link to Crisis Management?

The story talks about a drug shortage in Canada that is caused by the lack of competition in the Canadian market. This is affecting the generic drug industry and patients that cannot afford non-generic or name brand drugs. The pharmaceutical company mentioned in the story is Sandoz Canada which is based in Boucherville, Quebec. This company has the largest market share for manufacturing generic drugs and is the only supplier of over 140 injectable painkillers, sedatives and antibiotics. The company has had quality control issues, reports of it mislabeling drugs, and a recent fire.

 2.            What stage of Crisis Management does the system appear to be at?

The possible impending drug shortage in Canada is a risk for patients and hospitals that purchase generic drugs. Sandoz Canada having a major market share of the generic drug industry is an issue for the generic drug industry as there is a lack of competition.

Sandoz Canada is in a state of crisis as its business continuity is being affected by the fire it had and other quality control issues.


Lastly, this is an issue for competition bureau who was warned of the issue in 2008 but did not do anything to deal with the issue which has now become a risk for the patients and hospitals that are supplied by Sandoz Canada.

3.         How well does the system appear to be handling the situation?

Health Canada has approved three new drugs in a speedy manner to combat the drug shortage. The competition bureau has refused to make a statement on whether they have received complaints about a drug shortage and if they will carry out an investigation on this matter. It seems that the competition bureau is avoiding the crisis that could occur and ignored the warning signs when they got the report in 2008.

The other three generic drug companies that have applied for approval of their drugs are taking advantage of this possible shortage that may occur. They have applied for approval when Health Canada is worried about a drug shortage which has sped up their approval process.

4.          What level of crisis preparedness does the system appear to have?

The system which is the generic drug industry in this case seems like they were not prepared for this risk even though there was a report in 2008 about this happening. Health Canada and the competition bureau should have approved other generic drugs earlier and ensured a competitive market so that the major market share was not owned by one company that could suffer a crisis and cause a drug shortage. Hospitals were not mentioned in this story, but they need to be prepared for Sandoz Canada not being able to provide them with drugs and develop a contingency plans so that they can provide care to their patients.

5.         What personal reactions/feelings does the description trigger in you?

This story makes me question whether the competition bureau was doing their job. The risk of a drug shortage could have been avoided if they had ensured that Sandoz Canada did not become so depended on by the hospitals and healthcare industry. Health Canada fast tracking the approval of 3 new drugs is also worrisome as it makes me question whether they did their due diligence in testing the safety of these drugs or if they just approved them because they feared a drug shortage.

6.         What advice would you offer to those involved?

I would caution Health Canada to consider the risks that they are taking on by fast tracking other drugs because of a fear of a drug shortage crisis. The Competition Bureau should do an environmental scan of other industries with these issues and have a crisis management team in place that can promote proper competition in these industries, especially in healthcare so that it doesn’t impact the health of Canadians. To Sandoz Canada, I would say that they are in a state of crisis and need to have a crisis management team in place that can develop crisis communications and have a spokesperson make a statement to their shareholders and patients that will be affected if their business is disrupted or goes bankrupt. I would encourage other drug companies to develop generic drugs and enter the market to ensure that there is good competition in an industry where there is a lot of potential for them to increase their market share.

Hospitals should develop a crisis management team in case there is a drug shortage and their major supplier Sandoz Canada is not able to provide them with generic drugs. They need to explore other avenues and other companies that they can use to purchase generic drugs for their patients. To patients, I would say they need to contact Health Canada and the competition bureau with their concerns if they are finding a shortage of generic drugs so that these two organizations can work for them in handling this risk before it becomes a crisis.

Robocall Scandal

Misleading robocalls went to voters ID'd as non-Tories

Pattern of calls points to party's voter identification database, opposition says

By Terry Milewski, CBC News

Posted: Mar 15, 2012 9:02 PM ET

Last Updated: Mar 16, 2012 9:27 AM ET

An investigation by CBC News has turned up voters all over Canada who say the reason they got robocalls sending them to fictitious polling stations was that they'd revealed they would not vote Conservative.

Although the Conservative Party has denied any involvement in the calls, these new details suggest that the misleading calls relied on data gathered by, and carefully guarded by, the Conservative Party.

Chief Electoral Officer Marc Mayrand announced Thursday that he now has "over 700 Canadians from across the country" who allege "specific circumstances" of fraudulent or improper calls. CBC News examined 31 ridings where such calls have been reported and found a pattern: those receiving those calls also had previous calls from the Conservative Party to find out which way they would vote.

Tim McCoy of the riding of Ottawa-Vanier was one of those who complained to Elections Canada. He received a bogus recorded message pretending to be from Elections Canada — but he also had two previous calls from the Conservatives.

"They did call me back from the Conservative Association and ask if they could count on my support," said McCoy, who declined to pledge his vote. He thinks that's why someone tried to mislead him.

"It looks like a hijacking of the democratic process," he added. "I would like to know who made the call pretending to be from Elections Canada and I don't really care which way the finger points. I would like to know."

Elections Canada says it never calls voters at all. However, it is only now emerging that calls impersonating Elections Canada followed previous calls by Conservative workers asking which way voters were leaning. That suggests that the "Elections Canada" calls, which are illegal, came from people with access to data gathered by the Conservative Party, which carefully controls access to it.

Asked about that, party spokesman Fred Delorey had no comment and declined an interview.

Election day calls

The pattern of legitimate so-called "Voter ID" calls, followed by bogus "Elections Canada" calls, occurs in ridings across the country.

Charles Cochrane of Saint John, N.B., made it very clear to the Conservatives that they did not have his vote. Then, on election day, he said, "The phone rang and it was a recorded message. This is Elections Canada calling, your polling station has now changed." He checked. It had not changed.

From the outset, the Conservative Party leadership has insisted it had no involvement in these calls.

"The Conservative party can say absolutely, definitively, it has no role in any of this," said Prime Minister Stephen Harper. His parliamentary secretary, Dean Del Mastro, calls claims to the contrary "baseless smears."

However, opposition leaders say the scheme could never have gone forward without callers having access to the Conservatives' proprietary database on voter intentions. Known as "CIMS," the database assigns a "smiley" face to supporters, and a "sad" face to non-Conservatives. Liberal and NDP politicians say it would make no sense to call randomly, since many of the voters misled would be Conservatives.

"Who had access to the database? Who wrote the scripts?" asked the NDP's Charlie Angus in question period Thursday. He did not receive an answer.

Lori Bruce of Fredericton thinks she has a good idea. She said the Conservatives knew she was not a supporter, and called her more than once — even identifying themselves while misdirecting her to the wrong polling station.

Voters from ridings across the country who spoke to CBC News describe receiving misleading automated calls with incorrect polling station changes after receiving Conservative Party calls. (Canadian Press)

Bruce said she received a call stating that it was "on behalf of Stephen Harper and Keith Ashfield for the Conservative party."

"At that point, he told me that my voting location had changed. I, at that point, said no, it's at the same location it always is."

Bruce then Googled the caller's number and found out it was the Conservative campaign office. Still, she wanted to be sure.

"I called the number back," she says, "and I just got an answering machine message, saying thank you for calling the Conservative Party."

Peggy Walsh Craig of North Bay, Ont., told a similar story — but received two separate calls.

"The first one was a few weeks before the election and it simply asked me one question and that was, was I going to vote for the Conservative Party — and I indicated no."

Only later did she get an anonymous second call, she said.

'Polling stations have changed'

"That was, it was Elections Canada calling and that they — due to higher than anticipated voter turnout, the polling station had been changed."

Once again, it hadn't changed at all. The same thing happened to Astrid Dimond of Mission, B.C.

Dimond said a caller told her that, "We're just phoning to let you know that the polling stations have changed."

Dimond knew better.

"And I said, no they haven't, and I hung up on her."

Dimond added that she tracked the call back to its source. The misleading call "came from the same number that all the other calls had come from, which I found out was the Conservative Party."

CBC News came up with many voters with similar complaints, including Saj Aziz in the riding of Mississauga-Streetsville, Carmen Leveille in Victoria, Gordon Webb in Guelph, May Beland in Willowdale and Susan Lapell in the Toronto riding of St. Paul's.

Aziz said a "research company" tried to find out who he was voting for as part of an "independent poll." When he declined to commit to the Conservatives, he was told that "a supervisor" would call him back. Then, he got a call from the Conservative party, trying to win him over. When that didn't work, he finally got a call saying that his polling station had moved. However, he'd already voted in the advance poll, at the right place.

In Guelph — where the robo-call scandal began — Gordon Webb says he made it clear to the Conservatives that he would not vote for them. He, too, got a misdirection call telling him to go to a phoney polling station. At least a hundred people showed up there and some of them angrily gave up on voting, blaming Elections Canada.

As for the next step, all of these voters say they want Elections Canada to get to the bottom of it.

"There definitely should be punishment," said Lori Bruce of Fredericton. "They should be punished to the fullest extent of the law."

In North Bay, where the Liberals lost by just 18 votes, Peggy Walsh Craig said, "I care a lot about democracy and so I'm appalled that this is happening."

"It raises enough questions that it makes me wonder about the results here."

Reflections

1.            What is the link to Crisis Management?

The story talks about a scandal that has been dubbed the “Robocall scandal” in which voters in Canada’s last Federal election received misleading phone calls that had an automated message stating that their polling station had changed. According to the story, only voters that had identified themselves as non-Conservative party supporters received these calls. Apparently, the only people that were called had received previous calls from the Conservative Party asking for support and had refused to support them.

2.         What stage of Crisis Management does the system appear to be at?

This is a crisis for Elections Canada because they are responsible for ensuring a fair and democratic voting process in Canada. It is a risk for the Conservative party as it calls their ethics during an election campaign into question. This is an issue for the Canadian public as it creates distrust in the Elections process in Canada. This is an issue for the other parties in Canada such as the NDP and Liberals because now they are left questioning the results of the last election and if they were cheated out of winning seats in the House of Commons.

3.         How well does the system appear to be handling the situation?

Elections Canada is in the process of investigating this scandal gathering data from the public to see how many Canadians received these calls.. The Conservative party has denied any involvement in this and the spokesperson for the party refused to comment on the situation. The NDP and Liberals are using this scandal as an opportunity to make the Conservatives look bad to the public and to push their own political agendas.

4.         What level of crisis preparedness does the system appear to have?

Elections Canada was not prepared for this crisis. They were caught by surprise when this story was published by investigative journalists. They need to put systems in place that prevent something like this from happening in future elections. The public expects Elections Canada to uphold the democratic process and this has harmed their trust in Elections Canada and the Conservative Party. The Conservatives seem unprepared for this crisis as they are refusing to comment on it. They should have a spokesperson and a crisis communication team to inform the public that they had nothing to do with this scandal and try to show the public that they are also deeply concerned by the fact that something like this happened. The Liberals and NDP should monitor their own practices during elections and do an audit of their campaigning practices during the last election to ensure that they catch any signals that could become a crisis for them as well.

5.         What personal reactions/feelings does the description trigger in you?

This story made me feel angry as a voter. This calls into question the very basic notion of democracy that comes along with living in a developed country such as Canada. Having been born in Pakistan, this type of corruption is not uncommon there during elections. To see that unethical behaviour is also being practiced in Canada by a major party is a bit disconcerting. It makes me distrust the electoral system and it slightly discourages me from voting in the next election because I am questioning the fairness of the process and it makes me wonder about what else is happening that the public is not aware of.

6.         What advice would you offer to those involved?

I feel in this situation, Elections Canada needs to take the lead in investigating this situation and they need to find the people or party responsible and make an example of them so that something like this is less likely to happen in the future. This is part of their responsibility as the regulatory body during the elections and it would also help the public gain back some of their trust in the electoral process. The public should pressure Elections Canada into investigating this situation and should also contact them if they were called by the automated messaging service during the election in order to help them find the culprits. The Conservatives should put together a crisis management team and go through scenarios of if they are found guilty in this scandal and prepare their crisis communication and have an effective spokesperson who has previous experience in dealing with crises and who is trusted by the public. This spokesperson should also be able to withstand the pressure that they will receive from the media if the Conservative party is found guilty in this scandal.

I feel the other parties in Canada such as the Liberals and NDP should do an internal scan to find any weaknesses or vulnerabilities that could turn into crisis for them and address them early. The best way to contain a crisis is to “fess up to it” and tell the public what they are doing about it to ensure it does not happen again.

FDA chemist charged with insider trading

FDA Chemist Exploits “Sensitive Inside Information”

Liberty Alerts, Corruption Chronicles

In the latest scandal to rock the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a veteran chemist at the beleaguered agency has been sentenced to prison for using “sensitive inside information” to engage in illegal insider trading that fattened his bank account by millions.

The Justice Department says the corrupt FDA chemist (Cheng Yi Liang), who worked in the Office of New Drug Quality Assessment, traded on multiple occasions by using non-public information obtained through the agency’s password-protected internal tracking system for new drug applications. Liang made nearly $4 million off the deals and recently reached a plea agreement with federal prosecutors. This week he was sentenced to five years in prison.

Perhaps the FDA will find a way to keep him on its payroll. A few years ago a congressional report exposed that government scientists convicted of felonies are allowed to conduct essential drug and biologics research because the FDA doesn’t bother removing them, even though federal law demands it. This means Liang may very well get his job back after he’s done serving time.

His case is simply the most recent of many controversies to hit the federal agency responsible for protecting public health and safety. In the last few years the FDA has been embroiled in a number of transgressions, mostly involving its failure to enforce federal laws to please wealthy pharmaceuticals that pay hundreds of millions of dollars in “fees.”

In fact, the appalling arrangement has even been documented in various federal probes. One scathing congressional report outlines in detail how the FDA allows companies that annually pay it more than $400 million in fees to compromise public safety.

Judicial Watch has exposed one deadly example—Gardasil— that was fast-tracked by the FDA to protect against cervical cancer. JW uncovered droves of government records listing thousands of adverse reactions associated with the vaccine, which is manufactured by pharmaceutical giant Merck. They include paralysis, convulsions, blindness and dozens of deaths. Based on the records JW published a special report detailing Gardasil’s approval process, side effects, safety concerns and marketing practices.

JW has also exposed FDA secrecy. A few years ago JW reported how the agency avoided publicly disclosing information about an approval process by rebranding the product for veterinary use. It involved the first genetically engineered animal for human consumption—genetically modified fish—and the FDA wanted to keep the gory details from Americans who would eventually it

Reflections

1.            What is the link to Crisis Management?

A chemist working for the US regulatory body Food and Drug Administration (FDA), has been found guilty of insider trading. This employee used information that he gained through his work at the FDA to make millions of dollars and has now been sentenced to five years in prison.

2.         What stage of Crisis Management does the system appear to be at?

This situation is a risk for the FDA because it makes them look like they did not do their due diligence to stop something like this from happening. This is also a risk for the public because they expect the FDA to approve drugs that are safe without worrying about unsafe drugs and products being passed by the FDA just to make money.

3.    How well does the system appear to be handling the situation?

The FBI has been involved in investigating crimes such as these but these are all reactive measures. The FDA has strict measures in place to ensure that insider trading does not occur but this situation has caught them off guard. They have not made a public statement about this story which also calls into question other practices such as branding a product for animal use in order to avoid public disclosure.

4.         What level of crisis preparedness does the system appear to have?

The FDA does not seem to have a lot of crisis preparedness as most of their rules try to prevent something like this from happening. One such rule is that employees must disclose their earnings to the FDA on a yearly basis. In this case, the employee used his family and friends’ accounts to hide his income. The FDA should monitor their employees more closely and should also be more transparent as an organization to avoid a crisis situation. Furthermore, they should have a crisis communication team in place that can respond to the media if a situation like this does occur.

5.         What personal reactions/feelings does the description trigger in you?

I feel that the FDA needs to be a more transparent organization as they hold the safety of the public in their hands. Being a regulatory body, they need to keep the pharmaceutical industry in check and ensure that no unsafe products reach the public. The story speaks about Gardasil being approved by the FDA for monetary gain even though it was unsafe for the public. This triggers anger and fear in me as the story insinuates that the FDA was aware of adverse side effects but still approved the drug. I feel that regulatory bodies are in place to protect the public’s interest and should be not-for-profit organizations whose sole goal should be to protect the public.

6.         What advice would you offer to those involved?

The story speaks about the FDA re-hiring scientists that have been found guilty of transgressions. I would advise them to do stringent background checks on future and present employees and to put the safety of the public first.   I would also tell them to have a crisis management team in place so that they can address situations that may occur in the future. They should also have a crisis communication team in place that informs the public of their protocols that protect the public from unsafe products. They should be more transparent and assure the public that they do not accept fees from pharmaceutical companies by compromising their regulatory responsibility in keeping the public safe.

La Poste employee suicides

La Poste aims to halt wave of suicides

Published: 20 Mar 2012 10:05 GMT+1
Online: http://www.thelocal.fr/2896/20120320/

Matthew Warren (news@thelocal.fr)

A string of suicides at the state-run post office, La Poste, has led its boss to announce new measures in an effort to restore calm, although unions are angry he did not go further.

In the last six months, three employees have killed themselves at work.

The most recent, a 42-year-old executive, left a note complaining that "for three years, I have the impression of being harassed and cornered by my superiors."

An unofficial list by employees alleges there have been five suicides and one attempted suicide since January alone.

These are in addition to eleven suicides in 2011 and 17 in 2010.

La Poste is eager to avoid the fate that hit France Telecom where more than 60 employees were believed to have committed suicide over a three-year period due to work pressures.

The controversy forced deputy chief executive Louis-Pierre Wenes out of his job in 2009.

On Monday, the head of La Poste, Jean-Paul Bailly, announced four measures he hopes will help the situation.

"A big dialogue around work" will be launched, he said, as well as a series of discussions with unions to put in place "concrete measures."

A mediator will also be appointed who can take decisions on individual situations.

However, unions were disappointed that the measures did not include a suspension of the company's ongoing reform programme.

"The transformation of the company cannot stop," said Bailly. "There will not be a pause."

Unions reacted angrily to the news.

"We are sceptical about these measures," Bernard Dupin of the CGT union told newspaper 20 Minutes.

"We wonder if management has really taken account of what's going on in the organisation."

The SUD-PTT union denounced "four miserable little measures" in a statement and said it would go directly to the government, major shareholder in La Poste.

The union said the government "could not stay silent" on the matter.

Reflections

1.           What is the link to Crisis Management?

There has been a string of suicides committed by employees of La Poste, France’s postal system, of which the government of France is a major shareholder. In the last 6 months alone, three employees of La Poste committed suicide while at work. The latest employee to commit suicide was an executive whose suicide note said that he felt he was being harassed and cornered by his superiors for the last three years.

    2.   What stage of Crisis Management does the system appear to be at?

This situation is a risk for La Poste. If their employees go on strike because of the pressure from the reform program that the company is going through, this could become a crisis and effect La Poste’s business continuity.

3.    How well does the system appear to be handling the situation?

The organization La Poste is not handling this situation very well. They have made a statement saying that they will have discussions with the unions but they will not put a stop to the reform program. It is obvious that the employees are not handling the pressure well and the company needs to have a conversation with employees on why they feel pressured and try to improve the situation. France’s postal industry as a whole is not handling the situation well as they need to step in to prevent a strike and stop of postal service. Unions have responded angrily to La Poste’s statement but they need to work with the organization to negotiate better working conditions.

4.   What level of crisis preparedness does the system appear to have?

The system does not seem to have good crisis preparedness. The organization, La Poste does not seem prepared to handle the unhappiness of its employees and is not doing anything to improve their working conditions. The fact that an executive committed suicides shows that even the leadership of the organization is not aware of how to handle the situation. The organization does not have any crisis communication in place to make their employees feel better in order to prevent this from becoming a crisis.

The postal industry is also not prepared for a crisis if the postal workers go on strike. The French government is not prepared for a crisis that could stop their business and cause disruptions in service for the French public.

Unions are also not prepared for a crisis because they should have had a crisis plan in place when the first suicide happened. They should have stepped in to negotiate better working conditions at the first sign of a crisis for their stakeholders, the employees.

5.  What personal reactions/feelings does the description trigger in you?

I feel this situation is very sad. The employees that have lost their lives should have had some where to turn to before they decided to take such drastic measures. It is sad that they did not feel comfortable enough to take themselves out of a bad work environment and instead chose to end their lives. This also makes me feel very angry towards the company, La Poste. It seems that they are not concerned about the safety and well being of their employees. The fact that they will continue on their path of making change at the organization without considering the negative impact that it is having on their employees is disheartening.

6.   What advice would you offer to those involved?

To La Poste, I would say that they need to take these suicides as a clear signal that their employees are not happy with the reform program. They should engage their primary stakeholders, the employees and ask them for feedback on how their working conditions can be improved and how they can continue this reform while still making their employees satisfied at work.

The government, who is a major shareholder in La Poste should step in and ensure that there aren’t any more employee suicides. They need to put pressure on La Poste’s management to make the working conditions better and get counseling for employees that are feeling stressed by work or having suicidal thoughts.

The employees of La Poste should speak up about what they are unhappy about or leave the company if that means that they will be happier. Committing suicide will not solve the problem for the other employees so they should seek counseling and leave the company if that is their last resort.

The industry as a whole should have a crisis management plan in case there is a postal worker strike, whether that means hiring replacement staff or having other contract agencies provide contingency postal services.

The union should negotiate better working conditions for the employees and offer counseling services to employees if they are afraid to ask for help at work in case it reflects poorly on them.