Canada’s minister of mental health and addictions says more doctors across the country should be willing to prescribe a safer supply of drugs to reduce overdoses instead of fearing they will face barriers from their regulatory colleges.
Carolyn Bennett said a guidance document by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of British Columbia could be very helpful in other provinces and territories.
“We are, I think, a bit limited at the moment, frankly, because of some of the approaches of the colleges of physicians and surgeons across the country,” Bennett told a news conference Wednesday.
“Physicians have felt that they would not be able to do this without being investigated by [their] college, unfortunately.”
The B.C. college has said physicians who prescribe pharmaceutical-grade alternatives to street drugs as part of a comprehensive treatment plan or a stand-alone harm reduction strategy could better support patients and reduce their risk of overdose and death.
The practice is based on a policy directive developed last July by the B.C. ministries of health and mental health and addictions as part of an urgent response to the overdose crisis.
Bennett made the comments while announcing harm-reduction initiatives across Canada, including seven safer supply programs in B.C. and Ontario, involving $40 million in funding that’s already been budgeted for various programs.
More than 7,500 people across the country fatally overdosed last year, she said, and it’s time Canadians understand the role they could play in dealing with stigma related to drug use.
“From Cape Spear to Haida Gwaii, from Carcross to Windsor in southern Ontario, people are dying,” said Bennett.
Minister of Mental Health and Addictions Carolyn Bennett says doctors should be more willing to prescribe pharmaceutical-grade alternatives to street drugs, citing it a document by the B.C. College of Physicians and Doctors that says it will better support patients (Eric Baradat/AFP/Getty Images)
She said pandemic restrictions such as gathering limits made it more difficult for people to access services, while systemic discrimination and racism in the health-care system mean people don’t seek help.
“There’s an emerging consensus that we have to do more to reverse this devastating trend, save lives and bridge the gaps that exist in our health-care systems so that more people can get the care they need,” she said.
Even in B.C., however, doctors face challenges in prescribing safer opioids.
Of 7,229 practising family physicians, 1,607 self-reported on their 2022 annual licence renewal form that they prescribe safer supply, the B.C. College of Physicians and Surgeons said.
The college said in a written response that some of its concerns include a shortage of qualified family physicians across the province, as well as limited clinical guidelines for support and training.
It also said limited clinical research in prescribed safer supply, something that’s noted in the province’s policy directive, which says an evaluation is expected to gather evidence to determine the feasibility of developing provincewide clinical guidance to support broader uptake across B.C.
Carolyn Bennett, associate minister of health speaks during a news conference on the opioid overdose crisis in Vancouver, British Columbia on Tuesday, July 19, 2022. (Ben Nelms/CBC)
“Safer supply prescribing is challenging and also very resource intensive,” the college said, noting that access is needed to health-care teams that can provide additional social supports like counselling, safe housing and social workers.
“These services are not readily available in all communities. Also, the current fee-for-service payment model does not support family physicians to do this difficult work.”
In May, Bennett joined Sheila Malcolmson, her counterpart in B.C., to announce that drug users in the province will not be charged for possessing up to 2.5 grams of opioids, cocaine, methamphetamine or MDMA, also known as ecstasy, for three years. The plan is slated to start on Jan. 31, 2023, the first such move in North America.
Half of the $40 million in funding Bennett announced Wednesday is for services in Ontario, while the rest has been divided among all other provinces and Yukon.
Michael Vonn, CEO of the PHS Community Services Society, which provides harm-reduction and housing services in Vancouver and Victoria, said a new grant will allow for the installation of a technological system that alerts emergency responders if someone is at risk of overdose.
The Lifeguard Digital Health app sends an alert if a resident using drugs alone does not respond to an alert that triggers them to turn it off, something they wouldn’t be able to do if they’re unconscious. That would prompt staff to check on that person before the system calls paramedics if help does not arrive.
The society documented 2,047 overdoses in 2021, with 309 of them occurring in private units, Vonn said.
The system builds on a successful pilot and would benefit residents of about 1,500 units of supportive housing and 200 shelter spaces, Vonn said.
EDMONTON – RCMP say a second suspect has been arrested in the killing of an Alberta county worker.
Mounties say 28-year-old Elijah Strawberry was taken into custody Friday at a house on O’Chiese First Nation.
Colin Hough, a worker with Rocky View County, was shot and killed while on the job on a rural road east of Calgary on Aug. 6.
Another man who worked for Fortis Alberta was shot and wounded, and RCMP said the suspects fled in a Rocky View County work truck.
Police later arrested Arthur Wayne Penner, 35, and charged him with first-degree murder and attempted murder, and a warrant was issued for Strawberry’s arrest.
RCMP also said there was a $10,000 reward for information leading to the arrest of Strawberry, describing him as armed and dangerous.
Chief Supt. Roberta McKale, told a news conference in Edmonton that officers had received tips and information over the last few weeks.
“I don’t know of many members that when were stopped, fuelling up our vehicles, we weren’t keeping an eye out, looking for him,” she said.
But officers had been investigating other cases when they found Strawberry.
“Our investigators were in O’Chiese First Nation at a residence on another matter and the major crimes unit was there working another file and ended up locating him hiding in the residence,” McKale said.
While an investigation is still underway, RCMP say they’re confident both suspects in the case are in police custody.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
RICHMOND, B.C. – The Integrated Homicide Investigation Team says the 26-year-old son of a man found dead on British Columbia’s Sunshine Coast has been charged with his murder.
Police say 58-year-old Henry Doyle was found badly injured on a forest service road in Egmont last September and died of his injuries.
The homicide team took over when the BC Coroners Service said the man’s death was suspicious.
It says in a statement that the BC Prosecution Service has approved one count of first-degree murder against the man’s son, Jackson Doyle.
Police say the accused will remain in custody until at least his next court appearance.
The homicide team says investigators remained committed to solving the case with the help of the community of Egmont, the RCMP on the Sunshine Coast and in Richmond, and the Vancouver Police Department.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Mediated talks between the union representing HandyDART workers in Metro Vancouver and its employer, Transdev, have broken off without an agreement following 15 hours of talks.
Joe McCann, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1724, says they stayed at the bargaining table with help from a mediator until 2 a.m. Friday and made “some progress.”
However, he says the union negotiators didn’t get an offer that they could recommend to the membership.
McCann says that in some ways they are close to an agreement, but in other areas they are “miles apart.”
About 600 employees of the door-to-door transit service for people who can’t navigate the conventional transit system have been on strike since last week, pausing service for all but essential medical trips.
McCann asks HandyDART users to be “patient,” since they are trying to get not only a fair contract for workers but also a better service for customers.
He says it’s unclear when the talks will resume, but he hopes next week at the latest.
The employer, Transdev, didn’t reply to an interview request before publication.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
