Drug Safety Clinic

To access the Drug Safety Clinic you will need:

1. A referral from your doctor
   Your doctor should fax this referral form to 416-480-5229.
   
   
2. A consultation appointment at our clinic
   After we receive your doctor's referral, we will contact you to set up a consultation appointment. This will be an approximately 15-20 minute meeting with a physician specialist to review your medical history, including your reaction(s) to medications. Please bring a list of your current medications with you, as well as details about the reaction(s) you had and the names of suspected medications.
   
   Plan to park for at least 1 hour for this appointment.
   
   
3. Testing appointment
   During your consultation appointment, our doctor may determine that testing is appropriate for you. If this is the case, make a testing appointment with our Office Manager before you leave. Alternatively, we can call you to set up your appointment.
   
   For testing, you will be at our clinic for approximately 6-8 hours from the scheduled time of your appointment (this includes time waiting for testing and any delays), then you will be discharged by our clinic physician.
   
   Note: The consult and testing visit are rarely on the same day.
   
   
4. Desensitization appointment
   In some cases, the clinic physician will recommend that you be desensitized to a medication you have reacted to in the past. For some desensitization protocols, our clinic pharmacist will call you to set an appointment to meet with you at our clinic.

Booking or rescheduling your appointment

Generally, we book appointments several months into the future. However, to check for cancellations, please contact our Administration team at drugsafety@sunnybrook.ca or 416-480-6100 x3061 up to once a week to see if you can get an earlier appointment.

The best times to call are Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays from 7:00 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. If you call, feel free to leave a voicemail. 

Should you need to cancel your appointment, please contact us at least 48 hours prior to the appointment or a $50 rebooking fee may be charged.

If you email or call us, please provide us with your name, phone number and the date and time of your appointment. Tell us if you want to reschedule the appointment.

We appreciate your telling us in advance that you will not be coming to your appointment. Our clinic is very busy and we try and fill all openings!

How do I get there?

Map & directions to the hospital

The Drug Safety Clinic is located on the ground floor, in the U Wing, at UG 00, desk 4. Parking is available outside the U Wing. To get to this parking lot after coming in the hospital's main entrance, follow the sign to Emergency (this takes you behind the hospital). Go past Emergency until you see the signs for U-Wing. 

How long should I park?

• For consultation appointments, 1 hour is typically enough time.
• Testing appointments take approximately 6-8 hours; see Bayview Campus Parking rates.
  Before checking in at our clinic for testing, we suggest that you pay the full Daily Maximum amount and place the receipt on your dashboard.

Are there washrooms nearby?

There are 2 washrooms, right next to our main office area, behind a wood panel.

To access, press on the large silver button outside the washroom. The door will open slowly, and will then close slowly. When you are inside the washroom and the door has closed, push the red button near the toilet to lock the door.

Where can I get food?

Food can be purchased from a number of locations throughout the hospital.
We encourage you to bring your own food, or purchase and bring it back with you to our clinic. For your safety, we prefer you remain in the clinic area as much as possible.

What happens when I arrive?

1. Check in with our Office Manager at UG00 Desk 4.
   
   
2. Wait for your name to be called by our physician (for a consultation appointment) or our nurse (for drug testing).
   
   
3. As we share clinic space with other services, we ask our testing clients to find a seat down the hall from our clinic, not in the main seating area.
   
   
4. Following your consultation appointment with our clinic physician, if drug testing is recommended, please see our Administrative team to make an appointment for testing before you leave. Alternatively, we can contact you to make a testing appointment.
   
   Rarely, the consult and testing visit may be held on the same day.
   
   

The type of testing we offer depends on the drug/drug class. This usually involves skin testing and/or a challenge dose of the drug. If you are uncomfortable or tend to feel faint around needles, please tell us before your testing so that we can help make the appointment easier for you. 

You will be at our clinic for 6-8 hours after your appointment time. Please do not ask to be seen/discharged earlier.
If you cannot stay for this period of observation, we may not be able to send a report to your physician regarding your final testing results.

Please do not ask to be seen/discharged earlier.

If you cannot stay for this period of observation, we will not be able to send a report to your physician regarding your final testing results.

Reactions at the clinic

Local reactions, which usually present as redness and swelling at the injection site, can occur either immediately or several hours or even several days after skin testing.

Systemic (whole body) reactions, are less common than local reactions. Systemic reactions are usually mild and respond rapidly to medications, such as antihistamines. Symptoms can include nasal congestion, hives or sneezing. A serious systemic reaction, called anaphylaxis, may occur extremely rarely after skin testing or oral challenge. Symptoms of an anaphylactic reaction include hives, swelling, wheezing, shortness of breath, nausea, dizziness and other symptoms.

The staff at the Drug Safety Clinic is trained to monitor and treat such reactions.

Reactions after you leave our clinic

Although rare, it is possible for patients to have a reaction after leaving our clinic. You should be alert for any unusual symptoms that might occur up to 48 hours later. These symptoms could be related to the medication you received at our clinic.

Symptoms may include:

• Local reactions: Bruising, redness, swelling or irritation at the site you received any injections is normal and common. Local reactions should not result in a more serious reaction. Increasing redness or swelling over the next few days is unusual.
  
  
• Systemic reactions: These reactions are less common than local reactions, but may include rash, swelling, fever, mucosal lesions (e.g., ulcers in the mouth), vomiting or diarrhea.

In the unlikely event you have a reaction after you leave our clinic, if the symptoms are severe or getting worse, see your physician or go to the nearest walk-in clinic or hospital Emergency Department to be assessed and treated.

Keep us informed

Please telephone or email us to tell us about any symptoms you had after you left our clinic. If possible, take digital photographs of the reaction and email these to us with your name, the date you were tested at our clinic, the date you took the photo(s) and a detailed description of the reaction, including how you treated it. We will record this in your file and, where appropriate, we will call you back and/or write a further letter to your referring physician.

How should I dress?

• Dress in layers, as it may be hot/cold in the clinic area, and temperatures may change throughout the day.
• Wear a loose, short-sleeved top made of stretchy fabric that is easy to roll up, as skin tests are given in the upper arm area very near the shoulder. Dark colours are preferable, as some patients may bleed slightly at the injection site.
• Do not wear any lotion on your arms or shoulders, as this could make it more difficult to administer skin testing.
• Do not wear perfume or scented products, as Sunnybrook is a fragrance-free hospital.

Can I eat before or during the clinic?

Absolutely! Eat or drink as usual before and during the clinic. Eat a regular breakfast before coming for testing and bring a snack/lunch with you. Food can also be purchased from a number of locations throughout the hospital.

We encourage you to bring your own food, or purchase and bring it back with you to our clinic. For your safety, we prefer you remain in the clinic area as much as possible so we can monitor you.

What should I bring?

You are at our clinic to be tested for drug sensitivity and part of this testing includes being available to us so we can monitor you. Accordingly, we want you to remain in the clinic area as much as possible for an approximate 6-8 hour timeframe.

We encourage you to be prepared to spend the day with us. Consider bringing:

• Food and drinks with you from home.
  There are cafeterias/coffee shops in the hospital, but we prefer if you stay in the clinic area during your testing period.
• A good book
• iPad or laptop: Sunnybrook has free wifi

Can I bring a family member with me?

Our clinic space is quite limited, and is used by the many clients we see on testing days as well as clients from other clinics. Unless you need assistance, we encourage you to come on your own.

If you are travelling from out of town to attend a drug testing appointment, you may be eligible to have some of your travel costs reimbursed through the Northern Health Travel Grant Program.

Click to access travel grant forms on the Government of Ontario website.

If you qualify for this program, please bring a completed form with you and speak with our Administrative team who will fill in our clinic information for you.

Please be patient with us. We have a long waiting list and try to see as many patients as we can on clinic days. The 6-8 hour appointment time that we give you includes time taken where we run into delays that we cannot predict (e.g., dealing with complex patient cases, patient reactions or anxiety). Please appreciate that we cannot accurately predict all delays, but we are doing our best to provide service to you.

As we share clinic space with other services, we ask our testing clients to find a seat down the hall from our clinic, not in the main seating area.

Please do not talk on cell phones in the clinic area. This can disturb fellow clinic patients, and several people have their offices very close to our clinic. Just outside the clinic area is a long hallway where you can make calls.

If you have any concerns, or want to tell us about your experience at our clinic, please let us know.

Physicians:

• Dr. Karen Binkley
• Dr. Lori Shapiro
• Dr. Neil Shear
• Dr. Elizabeth Weber

Nurse:

• Heather V. Ferguson

Office supervisor:

• Carolyn Friedrich

Pharmacist/clinic manager:

• Jackie Campbell - jackie.campbell@sunnybrook.ca
  416-480-6765

Administrative assistant:

• Rebecca Johnson