Alberta Children’s Medication Contract: $7M Unjustified, Report Finds

A forensic accounting firm was unable to justify a $7 million increase in the cost of a contract to procure children’s pain medication for Alberta Health Services (AHS), according to a report released Friday by retired Manitoba justice Raymond Wyant.

The addendum to Wyant’s initial investigation, published five months prior, details how AHS renegotiated a five-year contract with medical supplier MHCare in July 2023, increasing the value to $56 million. The renegotiation occurred after the province was unable to secure Health Canada approval for an initial agreement to purchase five million bottles of children’s medication from Turkish supplier Atabay Pharmaceuticals in 2022.

Wyant commissioned the firm RSM to investigate the contract values. “Based on the documentation reviewed, RSM was unable to find support for the contract value of $56 million between AHS and MHCare,” Wyant wrote in the addendum report. RSM too found that AHS had paid $42 million to MHCare for products that had not been delivered as of October 31, 2025.

The initial investigation, released in October, found that then-Alberta health minister Jason Copping directed AHS to purchase the medication before receiving Health Canada approval. Wyant’s first report also revealed the province initially ordered approximately ten times more medication than officials deemed necessary. AHS employee Jitendra Prasad was identified as recommending the purchase of intravenous acetaminophen solution after the initial import approval failed, and was found to have a conflict of interest due to his relationship with MHCare.

Alberta initially received approximately $20 million worth of medication – 1,473,619 bottles of children’s acetaminophen and ibuprofen – with expiry dates ranging from January to April 2026. According to Wyant’s report, AHS disposed of 807,000 bottles, or 55 per cent of the received medication, at the Swan Hills hazardous waste plant. An additional 44 per cent was donated to Health Partners International Canada for use overseas, while only one per cent was distributed to hospitals and pharmacies.

The Alberta government, in a statement released Friday evening, stated the addendum report “reaffirms the conclusions reached in Judge Wyant’s earlier report, and confirms serious procurement and contract‑management failures within AHS, while also finding no evidence of wrongdoing by elected officials, political staff or the Alberta Public Service.” Assistant Deputy Minister of Communications and Public Engagement Yonathan Sumamo said the government has accepted all of Wyant’s recommendations and is implementing them to improve oversight and accountability.

Rakhi Pancholi, deputy leader of the Opposition NDP, called for a public inquiry, stating, “Albertans will only get to grasp the truth of the UCP government’s connections and involvement in this debacle through a public inquiry.”

The AHS contracting practices are currently the subject of a wrongful dismissal lawsuit filed by former AHS CEO Athana Mentzelopoulos. Mentzelopoulos alleges she was terminated for questioning multimillion-dollar contracts related to children’s pain medication and privately run surgical facilities. The allegations remain unproven in court. AHS and the government have denied the claims in statements of defence, asserting Mentzelopoulos was not meeting expectations.

MHCare and its CEO, Sam Mraiche, have also been the focus of scrutiny, with the company receiving hundreds of millions of dollars for personal protective equipment during the COVID-19 pandemic. The RCMP recently searched MHCare’s offices in Edmonton earlier this week. A lawyer representing MHCare and Mraiche stated Thursday that they have not engaged in any improper conduct.

Wyant’s initial report identified “real or perceived” conflicts of interest in the procurement process and awarding of contracts. He made 18 recommendations for improvement, including whistleblower protection for AHS employees and mandatory conflict-of-interest training. While Wyant found no evidence of wrongdoing by Premier Danielle Smith or her staff, he acknowledged the limitations of his mandate prevented definitive statements.