Pubdate: Thu, 20 Jun 2013
Source: Guelph Mercury (CN ON)
Copyright: 2013 Metroland Media Group Ltd.
Contact:  http://www.guelphmercury.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/1418
Author: Joanne Shuttleworth
Page: 6

SPEED UP ACCESS TO DRUG, SAY ADVOCATES, POLICE CHIEF

GUELPH - A local addiction/harm reduction organization is prodding the
province to get moving on its plan to distribute the drug naloxone to
drug addicts.

The drug reverses an overdose of opioids for about 45 minutes thus
having the potential to save lives. The Ministry of Health announced
in April 2012 it would cover the cost of naloxone and worked a
temporary arrangement with the Ontario Harm Reduction Distribution
Program to distribute the drug to physicians and other health
professionals in communities across the province.

That arrangement ended in April and since then there's been no
movement from the government to find an alternate agency to run the
program and distribute the drug.

"As far as I know it has nothing to do with funding or with the
concept itself," said Rafi Silver, executive director of the
Wellington Guelph Drug Strategy. "It seems to be some place in the
ministry's bureaucracy."

Silver and other members of the Municipal Drug Strategy Co-ordinator's
Network of Ontario have also written to Health Minister Deb Matthews
urging her to get the program up and running.

The simple and direct solution is to let physicians order naloxone
directly from Sandoz, which makes the drug, or from the Ontario
Government Pharmacy, the network recommends. It also suggests keeping
the paperwork to a minimum.

"In times of crisis, administrative expediency is paramount," the
letter reads.

The network recommends using public health units to distribute
naloxone, but if a physician or organization in a community - such as
a community health centre or methadone clinic - is prepared to take on
the work of overdose prevention, they should not be deterred, the
network suggests.

Silver said the problem started when OxyContin, a narcotic painkiller,
became widely prescribed and abused. Many patients who used the drug
as prescribed became addicted; OxyContin could also be heated or
crushed and taken in different ways for a greater high. There were
numerous reports of addicts overdosing. The province pulled the drug
from its formulary and now OxyNeo, which is more difficult to tamper
with, is prescribed instead.

"We solved one problem but caused another," Silver said. Serious
addicts turned to heroin when they couldn't get OxyContin and there
was a spike in overdose deaths.

Naloxone is given to a patient who is overdosing from an opioid drug.
It brings a patient out of overdose for about 45 minutes, which could
be enough to get to hospital for treatment.

Silver said the Guelph Community Health Centre was to become the
distribution site in Guelph and physicians there were prepared to
prescribe it.

"The health centre was gearing up for this," Silver
said.

Guelph Police Chief Bryan Larkin said officers have received training
on naloxone and are prepared for its entry to the community.

He said opioid use and abuse is high.

"This drug could save lives," Larkin said. "It gives people a second
opportunity at life. We're trying to move this along. In the interim,
people are still putting themselves in harm's way."

Larkin said having naloxone available to drug-addicted communities is
like having defibrillators in public places and EpiPens in school offices.

"These are life-saving opportunities and we support the Drug Strategy
on this," Larkin said. "Hopefully the community will rally and we can
advance the issue."

In an email Maxine Chan, in the communications department for the
Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care, said the naloxone program is a
priority for the government.

"We continue to consider options in how we distribute naloxone and
hope to begin sometime in the fall," she wrote.
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MAP posted-by: Matt