Deaths linked to opiate overdoses are rising sharply across
Canada owing to an increase in prescription drug use, says a report
released Wednesday by the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition.
The report says often these deaths could be prevented and many result from over-prescribing of pain medications.
"It's a national issue, it's a growing problem," said Donald
MacPherson, executive director of the Canadian Drug Policy Coalition.
"Canada is the No. 2 user of opiates in the world next to the U.S.,
so there's a lot of prescription opioids out there in the market."
The report calls for more education of patients taking opiates,
appropriate prescribing guidelines for physicians and widespread
training and use of naloxone, a drug designed to immediately reverse the
effects of an opiate overdose.
"Most overdoses are preventable, they don't need to happen, they
don't need to result in death. That's the tragedy here," MacPherson
said.
Overdoses affect all kinds of people
In Ontario, opioid overdoses are now the third leading cause of
accidental death, according to the report. In Toronto alone, coroners'
statistics show more than 200 people died of overdoses in 2012. Similar
increases have also been recorded in Quebec and British Columbia.
MacPherson said the numbers of deaths are likely under-reported,
since Canada has a poor system of collecting statistics in this area. As
well, it doesn't include overdoses where death was avoided. "The data
is just fragmented. It's just not there. It's difficult to get a good
picture of the situation at the national level," MacPherson said.
Contrary to popular belief, the deaths and overdoses are not just
among street people who use illegal drugs such as heroin, but among the
elderly and patients being treated for pain.
"It's all kinds of people. It's your grandmother, it's your husband
when he comes out of surgery and his medication isn't working and his
pain isn't being managed properly and he takes more because the pain is
still there," said Holly Kramer, with the Canadian Harm Reduction
Network.
Kramer said many people don't realize the dangerous interaction
between opiates and other substances such as alcohol and benzodiazapines
such as Valium.
Drug naloxone could cut down on overdose deaths
Doctors and pharmacists need to take more responsibility for
educating people about the dangers of opioids and what to do in case of
an overdose, according to Kramer. "I mean the way we are prescribing now
is just a little over the top," she said.
"One of the problems is that doctors, when they prescribe drugs,
always assume patients are going to use it as prescribed and that [an
overdose] is not going to happen," said Raffi Balian, co-ordinator of
Counterfeit, a harm reduction program in east end Toronto that works
with drug users.
Balian and Kramer want doctors to prescribe naloxone alongside opiate
pain medication and explain to patients and their families how to use
it in case of an overdose. She also wants to see police and firefighters
carry it since they are often first on the scene of an overdose.
"They all need access to naloxone because it can save lives," she
said. She added that injecting naloxone is no different than using an
EpiPen, which is commonly carried by many and used to reverse allergic
reactions.
Overdose witnesses afraid to call 911
For the past three years, Toronto's public health department has
distributed naloxone kits to drug users and trained them how to use it.
Similar programs are also in place in British Columbia and Alberta.
Balian said he sees first-hand how naloxone has saved lives in his
area. "This morning, one of our workers, I had to give him a new
naloxone kit because he had to use it this morning," he said.
Balian said many people who overdose are afraid to call 911 for fear
of being arrested by police. The report also calls on governments to set
up Good Samaritan laws that would ensure those who call for help are
not implicated or penalized for using or possessing drugs.
MacPherson said the new report will be sent to all provincial and
federal governments, health ministers, MPs and policy makers in an
effort to raise awareness and prevent future deaths.
"You really have to work to raise it up the list of priorities for
government. These are often complex, contentious issues and they drift
towards the bottom of the agenda," MacPherson said.
No comments:
Post a Comment