A woman living with epilepsy has been forced to sell her house to help pay for a treatment that became unavailable in Canada.

The drug, Zarontin, went into short supply with little notice, and is no longer available in Canada. Now, Karen Reeves must travel to Florida to get her medication.

With a price tag of $2,000 for each trip, she must also stay for two weeks each time to avoid breaking laws against transporting prescription medication across the border after a short-term stay.

“If I went with a small, independent pharmacy in Florida, they would be able to get the drug for me and honour a Canadian prescription,” she says.

Reeves is also the executive director of Epilepsy Waterloo-Wellington, a community agency that works to improve the quality of life for those dealing with the disorder.

Since the drug was discontinued three years ago, she has had to travel to the U.S. every three months, meaning she’s paying $8,000 annually to pick up her medication.

Reeves says “It’s extremely expensive and I have to weigh that with, if I don’t take this, I could die.”

And Zarontin is just one of a growing list of drugs in short supply in Canada.

In March, elective surgeries had to be cancelled and hospitals began sharing drugs after manufacturer Sandoz Canada temporarily shut down.

While the federal government initially blamed the provinces, the health minister soon said all levels of government were working together to find alternative suppliers.

Since then, Dr. Suzanne Nurse has been advocating on behalf of patients in the same situation as Reeves, and she says drug companies should be held accountable.

“If a pharmaceutical company becomes aware that they’re not going to be able to meet their supply needs, that they would then immediately alert the government.”

Reeves agrees that there should be more accountability, and believes if there was she wouldn’t have to go to the U.S. to get the medication she needs.

“If it’s a med that has worked, even if it’s an older one, even if it’s not one that not so many Canadians are on, it’s still very important to those people.”

While she has tried a generic medication, she says she started to go blind after taking it for a month.

Zarontin could be available in Canada again, but a decision on when is up to the manufacturer ERFC Pharmaceuticals.