BC death panel calls for more treatment services to prevent fatal overdoses
Posted April 5, 2018 11:47 am.
Last Updated April 5, 2018 1:50 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) – A death review panel looking into BC’s overdose crisis is calling for increased services to check for toxic drugs and an expansion of treatment programs providing substitute drugs and injectable options.
The recommendations are from a 19-month review period when overdose deaths skyrocketed, claiming 1,854 lives.
The panel included experts in health care, policing, corrections and mental health and addictions, and its recommendations are aimed at several government ministries.
Sarah Blyth with the Overdose Prevention Society is applauding the move but adds there is still a lot more work to do. “In terms of getting people safe access to medication and that they’re not buying it off of drug dealers on the street. If they need medication that they’re getting it from a trusted medical health professional or somebody who can help get them in a situation where maybe they don’t need as many drugs.”
She feels the recommendations are a stepping stone for change. “It’s certainly not enough and every death is a tragedy in this crisis and the fact people continue to die is a terrible thing, but it is good that the help of the Overdose Prevention sites that are helping save lives, but there’s more to do.”
The death panel’s chairman Michael Egilson says two-thirds of the people who died during the review period had a history of being incarcerated.
The BC Coroners Service says the powerful opioid fentanyl has been responsible for most of the deaths.
The agency says February’s fatal overdose statistics show 102 people died of suspected illicit-drug overdoses, a decrease of 16 per cent from the same month last year.
Last year, BC set a record for the number of people who died of opioid overdoses. BC declared the issue a public health emergency two years ago.
