Hydromorph Contin

Ontario has no plans to crack down on skyrocketing painkillers

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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.

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Ontario considers changing who prescribes opioids, and how

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ontario opioid deaths

Anna Mehler Paperny, Global News

Ontario Health Minister Deb Matthews wants to re-examine who’s allowed to prescribe opioids, how they prescribe them and what pills the government pays for.

The drop in OxyContin and its replacement OxyNEO is “a success,” she told Global News in an interview Tuesday. But “there’s more to be done. … Who should be able to prescribe these drugs? What form is the right form? These are very important questions.”

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Canada’s the world capital of potent opioids, and that makes its neighbour nervous

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Click to compare Canada's hydromorph contin consumption with the rest of the world.

Click to compare Canada’s hydromorph contin consumption with the rest of the world.

Anna Mehler Paperny, Global News

Health Canada rattled nerves south of the border last fall when it approved generic versions of OxyContin.

United States drug czar Gil Kerlikowske issued an alert to law-enforcement agencies, warning that “the potential exists for diversion into the United States because the old formulations, which are easier to abuse, are unavailable in the United States,” the Wall Street Journal reported.

“This alert seeks to raise awareness of this change with law enforcement along the Northern Border so law enforcement and border officials can work jointly to prevent diversion.”

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OxyContin’s gone, but Canada’s pill-popping problem is worse than ever

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Photo by Michelle Siu for the Globe and Mail

Photo by Michelle Siu for the Globe and Mail

Anna Mehler Paperny, Global News

A year after provincial governments clamped down on the most notorious name in prescription-drug abuse, other, more powerful, less regulated opioids are filling the void – with sometimes fatal results.

OxyContin’s off the market, its tamper-resistant replacement tougher to get. But Canadians are popping more pills than ever: In 2010, for the first time, Canada edged past the United States to become the highest opioid-consuming country, per capita, in the world.

And more Canadians are dying from it: In 2011, twice as many Ontarians were killed by opioid overdoses as drivers killed in car accidents, according to coroner’s statistics given to Global News. That toll has more than tripled since 2002.

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