Pubdate: Tue, 19 Aug 2008 Source: National Post (Canada) Copyright: 2008 Canwest Publishing Inc. Contact: http://www.nationalpost.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/286 Author: Aaron Derfel, Canwest News Service Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?142 (Supervised Injection Sites) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/topic/insite (InSite) Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/hr.htm (Harm Reduction) CLEMENT SLAMS CMA OVER INSITE Injections Allowed; 'Profoundly Disturbing:' Health Minister Aaron Derfel, Canwest News Service MONTREAL - Tony Clement, the federal Health Minister, assailed the Canadian Medical Association yesterday for supporting Vancouver's supervised drug-injection site, arguing that allowing heroin addicts to shoot up is against their profession's code of ethics. "I find the ethical considerations of supervised injections to be profoundly disturbing," Mr. Clement said in a speech, given at the CMA's annual meeting in Montreal, that drew angry reaction from doctors. "Is it ethical," he asked rhetorically, "for health-care professionals to support the distribution of drugs that are of unknown substance, or purity, or potency -- drugs that cannot otherwise be legally prescribed? If this were done in a doctor's office, the provincial college [of physicians] would rightly be investigating." Mr. Clement added that "the supervised injection site undercuts the ethic of medical practice and sets a debilitating example for all physicians and nurses, both present and future in Canada, who might begin to question whether it's all right to allow someone to overdose under their care." Recent statements by the CMA endorsing Insite were "dangerously misleading" and promoted the idea that there were safe ways to use illegal drugs, he said. "Clearly, we are on a slippery slope here. Already there are people saying injection sites are not enough, that government should give out heroin for free. Others are now calling for 'inhalation rooms' for people who smoke their drugs," Mr. Clement said. "I feel our government is now drawing the line in a place with which Canadians are comfortable, and I continue to review new information as it comes forward." He said Insite did not provide "health care for the living" but "palliative care for the dying. Insite offers no hope. It is a surrender to a culture of disease and death." Mr. Clement did not go so far as to call for the closure of Canada's sole supervised drug-injection site, which was established in 2003 as a pilot project. However, he recommended the centre's $3-million annual budget be redirected toward drug treatment and providing housing for sex workers in Vancouver's Downtown Eastside. His remarks drew a heated response from a number of CMA delegates. Dr. Bonnie Cham, chairwoman of the CMA's ethics committee, accused the Minister of manipulating medical ethics to advance the Conservative government's political agenda. In a news conference after the speech, Brian Day, the CMA's outgoing president, said Mr. Clement was "off base" in criticizing physicians' medical judgment on the issue. He noted that internal polling by the CMA found that nearly 80% of doctors favour supervised injection sites, also known as harm-reduction facilities. "Harm reduction, along with treatment, enforcement and prevention, are the four cornerstones of a comprehensive and integrated public-health strategy," Mr. Day said. "The primary purpose of the supervised safe injection site is not to cure those who are addicted, but rather to prevent the transmission of communicable disease and reduce overdoses and provide an entry point into the health-care system for those who might not otherwise have a way in." In June, a B. C. Supreme Court judge extended Insite's exemption from drug laws and said it could remain open indefinitely. The federal government is appealing the ruling. That same month, former Quebec health minister Philippe Couillard said the province is considering setting up a safe-injection facility in Montreal. Mr. Clement refused to comment on that possibility yesterday, saying it was purely hypothetical. - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom