July 14, 2014 – Anna Mehler Paperny, Global News
Canada’s next painkiller crackdown won’t come from Ontario.
Its removal of OxyNEO from the Ontario Drug Benefit successfully sidelined Purdue’s replacement for what was once the most notoriously addictive opioid – OxyContin.
And the province now collects data on all prescriptions filled, not just those the government pays for.
But tackling Canada’s fastest-growing addiction is turning into a game of whack-a-mole: Prescriptions for just about every other potent painkiller are up – way up – in the past two years.