Deaths From Painkillers Skyrocketing

Not mentioned in this article is the epidemic of pain killer addiction throughout all the provinces. The focus on deaths obscures the real truth that behind the 300 overdoses in Ontario this year, there are thousands upon thousands of fully tricked out Oxycontin abusers. These pain pills sell for a pretty penny in the prescription medicine 'secondary market' and the governments pending decision to limit the amount of Oxycontin they cover (pay for) in doctors prescriptions is a cost cutting measure with serious social and economic consequences. Oxycontin abusers, whose addiction has thus far been fully subsidized by the government, will pay for these pills, they'll sell their possessions to get them if they have to, and in doing so will ruin their lives to a greater extent than they already are.

The government fully subsidizes knowingly addictive opiates for years to an extent that I'm sure a simple look at the purchase orders would reveal, and than decides to just remove the subsidy cold turkey, knowing full well that a huge underground market already exists. Those pain afflicted patients being over prescribed by obliging doctors earn a 'secondary income' by selling these extra pills to their family and friends. Those selling these opiates will surely pay at the pharmacists desk, they'll simply pass the increased cost along to their 'customers'.


Source: The Globe and Mail

Painkillers are causing twice the number of overdose deaths in Ontario than they were two decades ago, a precedent-setting study has found. Most of the people these opioid-related drugs are killing got them through a prescription and had seen a doctor in the month before they died.

The increase mirrors a dramatic rise in prescriptions for oxycodone, a potent opiate found in OxyContin and Percocet that has proliferated in an epidemic of chronic pain that has turned Canadians into a nation of pill-poppers – using more prescription opioids per capita than any country but the United States and Belgium.

...

This new information comes as the Ontario government changes the way it regulates prescription opioids – placing limits on how many pills it will pay for, per prescription, and possibly adding more addiction treatment options for patients. Helen Stevenson, head of the province’s public drug program, says this urgent action is necessary because of a shocking slew of the evidence of Ontarians becoming hooked on these drugs.

One person in the data the provincial panel examined “walked out of the pharmacy with more than 2,000 pills” – all obtained through an apparently legitimate prescription.

...

More tellingly, about two-thirds of people who died of prescription opioid overdoses had seen a doctor in the past month; more than half had filled an opioid prescription in that month, and more than 80 per cent in the previous year. The typical patient had seen a doctor 15 times in the year before they died. Those overdosing on oxycodone are predominantly people with family doctors or, at the very least, easy access to a walk-in clinic. They aren’t buying their drugs on the street, or if they are it’s to supplement prescriptions they’re obtaining with some degree of legitimacy.

The study found prescription opioids kill, on average, 300 people in Ontario each year. HIV/AIDS, by comparison, kills 100 people annually; H1N1 has killed 100 people in Ontario so far. Other illicit drugs cause few overdose deaths by comparison.

“The perception, if you watch the movies, is that people inject heroin and die,” Dr. Dhalla said. “In Ontario there are far more deaths from prescription opioids than heroin. Deaths from illicit drug use without prescription opioids are relatively rare.”

It’s a case of a potent drug – as much as twice as powerful as morphine, which is far less easily available – not getting “the respect it deserves,” says David Juurlink, a doctor at Sunnybrook hospital and one of the report’s authors.

“It’s a very, very common medication, and familiarity breeds contempt,” he said.

A set of guidelines on opioid prescriptions, pain and addiction treatment drawn up by teams of experts from across the country is in the final stages of feedback, and will be released early next year.

Before the end of the month, Ontario plans to impose limits on the number of opioid pills it will cover, per prescription. And in January, the province will decide whether to fund buprenorphine – an less-addictive alternative to methadone that costs more per pill but would make addiction treatment available to more people.

“We don’t really have the authority to dictate what a doctor can prescribe. … Where we have the authority is around what we’re prepared to pay for.”

But while addiction doctors say it’s high time to add buprenorphine to the provincial formulary, they’re worried limiting access to drugs is too blunt a tool, and will deprive patients suffering legitimate pain of the treatment they may need.

“[Limits] might also actually reduce the availability of oxycodone and other prescribed opioids for patients who legitimately benefit from it,” said Curtis Handford, an addictions doctor at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health. “Physicians still need to be able to access medications if they feel they’re warranted.”

A comment from a Globe and Mail Reader which highlights the dirty 'secret' that everyone in the medical profession knows about, but isn't supposed to talk about:

I was prescribed oxycontin at a hospital a few years ago, despite the fact that I repeatedly told the doctor that I was breastfeeding. They told me it was safe, and I knew little about the drug. Within an hour of taking the first tablet, I became so sick I couldn't even keep water down, and decided to refrain from nursing until it was out of my system (glad the baby was old enough to eat some other foods by then). But even scarier was the puzzled look on the pharmacist's face when I returned the unused pills for proper disposal.

Apparently I could have made some decent cash had I just decided to sell those unused pills on the street.

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