Pubdate: Fri, 30 May 2014
Source: Victoria Times-Colonist (CN BC)
Copyright: 2014 Times Colonist
Contact: http://www2.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/letters.html
Website: http://www.timescolonist.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/481
Author: James Keller
Page: A2
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/find?131 (Heroin Maintenance)

ADDICTS RETAIN ACCESS TO HEROIN

VANCOUVER - A group of addicts in Vancouver who were part of a 
clinical trial examining the use of prescription heroin have won a 
temporary injunction that will allow them to continue accessing the 
drug at least until a court challenge is heard.

The ruling, issued Thursday by a B.C. Supreme Court judge, is the 
second time in recent months that courts have interfered with 
Ottawa's attempt to rein in the medical use of otherwise illegal drugs.

Five people filed a lawsuit last fall alleging the federal government 
had violated their charter rights by denying access to prescription 
heroin to treat their addictions.

Those patients received the heroin during a clinical trial, but once 
they left the trial last year, their doctors asked for approval under 
a special Health Canada program to continue prescribing the drug.

Health Canada initially granted the approvals, but Health Minister 
Rona Ambrose quickly introduced new regulations to stop such 
approvals. The patients who were approved have not received any more 
prescription heroin and subsequent applications have been rejected. A 
B.C. Supreme Court judge issued an injunction exempting the patients 
from the updated regulations until the case goes to trial, likely next year.

Joseph Arvay, a lawyer who is representing the patients, said the 
federal government's decision was not based on scientific research 
that has shown prescription heroin is an effective treatment for 
patients suffering from severe addiction.

"What was fundamentally wrong with the minister's decision is failing 
to understand that heroin treatment is a treatment, and it's not just 
providing the addicts with a drug of their choice," Arvay told a news 
conference Thursday.

"It [prescription heroin treatment] gives them an entry into the 
health-care system that they don't otherwise have. They're dealt with 
by social workers and psychologists, and people help them to deal 
with all the ramifications of their addictions."

The plaintiffs in the case all took part in clinical trials conducted 
by Providence Health Care, which operates St. Paul's Hospital 
Vancouver and is also involved in the lawsuit.

The first trial, the North American Opiate Medication Initiative, or 
NAOMI, took place in Vancouver and Montreal between 2005 and 2008. It 
compared the effectiveness of pharmaceutical grade heroin, known as 
diacetylmorphine, and oral methadone. Two of the plaintiffs were 
NAOMI participants.

The Study to Assess Longer-term Opioid Medication Effectiveness, or 
SALOME, began in 2011. The study is comparing the effectiveness of 
hydromorphone, a synthetic drug approved for use to control pain, and 
pharmaceutical heroin in treating severe addiction.

All five plaintiffs took part, exiting the program last year.

Doctors applied to Health Canada for special permission to prescribe 
heroin to 21 former study participants, including the five plaintiffs.

The updated regulations weren't retroactive, but the patients who 
were already approved still could not get the prescription heroin 
because the supplier didn't want to distribute the drug to the 
patients until the legal questions were cleared up.

Arvay said the injunction means all patients who have participated in 
the clinical trials can now apply to Health Canada for special access 
if their doctors believe prescription heroin will benefit them.

Health Canada said it plans to study the injunction before deciding 
how to respond.

"Dangerous drugs like heroin have a significant impact on Canadian 
families and their communities," said a statement from department 
spokesman Sean Upton.

"We will continue to support drug treatment and recovery programs 
that work to get Canadians off drugs in a safe way."
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom