Close X
Wednesday, November 13, 2024
ADVT 
National

B.C. Overdose Inquest Recommends Better Access To Addictions Treatment

Darpan News Desk, 26 Jan, 2017 11:52 AM
    BURNABY, B.C. — Jurors at a coroner's inquest into the fatal overdose of a 20-year-old man in British Columbia have recommended the province improves treatment options for people struggling with addiction, including access to pharmaceutical-grade heroin.
     
    Brandon Jansen was at a Vancouver Island treatment centre for an addiction to fentanyl when he died in March, a month before the province declared a public health emergency into opioid-related deaths.
     
    He was among 914 people in British Columbia who died from a drug overdose in 2016.
     
    The BC Coroners Service said before the inquest that the process would be an avenue to explore some of the issues arising from the deaths.
     
    Among its 21 recommendations, the five-person jury said standards of practice should be developed for treating people living with opioid addictions, and outcome measures and standards for treatment centres should be improved.
     
     
    It also said access should be expanded to the opioid-replacement therapy suboxone, and to pharmaceutical-grade heroin and hydromorphone for chronic opioid users.  
     
    Jansen had entered the private Sunshine Coast Health Centre for his 11th attempt at treatment involving fentanyl.
     
    The jury found Jansen died from "a mixed opioid drug overdose" and classified his death as accidental.
     
    The centre's chief executive Melanie Jordan said in November that the young man died partly due to the fact that the antidote naloxone and the therapeutic drug suboxone were not available.
     
    An investigation by Vancouver Coastal Health released that month said the centre in Powell River was in compliance with provincial regulations.
     
    The health authority said in a report that the RCMP found evidence suggesting Jansen likely got the drugs that contributed to his death from another patient who obtained them while on a day pass.
     
     
    It said police also found "another illegal substance" in Jansen's room hidden in a container labelled as supplements, which were believed to have been brought to the centre by a family member.
     
    Michelle Jansen said she visited her son the day before he died and did not bring him any supplements or medication.
     
    She said that at the time of his death, the centre did not carry naloxone because it could not get the appropriate authorization from provincial health regulators to administer the drug.
     
    Jansen said that based on the report, staff might have saved her son's life had a higher authority insisted that treatment centre in B.C. be armed with naloxone during an opioid crisis.
     
     
    The centre's chief medical officer was also waiting for approval to prescribe suboxone, which stops cravings and can prevent opioid overdoses.
     
    Jordan has said the centre was granted authorization to prescribe suboxone last July, days after the College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C. lifted restrictions that previously limited who could administer the drug.
     
    The jury recommended treatment centres provide access to opoiod-replacement interventions.

    MORE National ARTICLES

    Hamilton Woman Who Faked Cancer Gets 2 Years After Pleading Guilty To Fraud

    Hamilton Woman Who Faked Cancer Gets 2 Years After Pleading Guilty To Fraud
    Sarah Lucas pleaded guilty Wednesday to fraud over $5,000, identity theft and uttering a forged document.

    Hamilton Woman Who Faked Cancer Gets 2 Years After Pleading Guilty To Fraud

    Trudeau Grilled In Quebec About English-french Language Brouhaha

    Trudeau Grilled In Quebec About English-french Language Brouhaha
      The language brouhaha erupted when Trudeau answered English questions in French on Tuesday night.

    Trudeau Grilled In Quebec About English-french Language Brouhaha

    Canada To Gain Nice Days Under Climate Change, Globe To Lose: Study

    Canada To Gain Nice Days Under Climate Change, Globe To Lose: Study
    Most global warming studies have focused on extreme weather or broad-scale averages of temperature and precipitation. But Karin van der Wiel, of Princeton University, says that's not how people will experience their new circumstances.

    Canada To Gain Nice Days Under Climate Change, Globe To Lose: Study

    Drop A Puck, Become A Canuck -- New Citizens To Be Sworn In At Hockey Game

    Drop A Puck, Become A Canuck -- New Citizens To Be Sworn In At Hockey Game
    That might be the idea behind a ceremony to be held this weekend at a Saskatoon Blades hockey game, where 20 new Canadians will be sworn in as citizens.

    Drop A Puck, Become A Canuck -- New Citizens To Be Sworn In At Hockey Game

    Two Calgary Police Service Officers Charged With Serious Crimes

    CALGARY — Alberta's police watchdog says two officers from the Calgary Police Service have been charged with serious crimes, including the new head of the city's police union.

    Two Calgary Police Service Officers Charged With Serious Crimes

    Reena Virk’s Killer Kelly Ellard Tries Again For Parole From Life Sentence

    Reena Virk’s Killer Kelly Ellard Tries Again For Parole From Life Sentence
    Convicted British Columbia killer Kelly Ellard is expected to ask for parole again today, less than a year after a parole board said she was too entitled to be released.

    Reena Virk’s Killer Kelly Ellard Tries Again For Parole From Life Sentence