Health Sciences North's emergency department now sees patients who have been admitted to hospital due to overdoses on a weekly basis, and the recent theft of high-strength opioids from a local doctor's office won't help matters, said a Sudbury emergency department doctor.
“It is concerning,” said Dr. Lee Toner. “It adds to the already large supply that exists, and that we see repercussions on at least a weekly, if not daily basis.”
On Thursday, July 28 a suspect, or suspects, stole a number of potent medications from a doctor's office on Notre Dame Avenue including: 168 vials of fentanyl, 78 vials of versed, 70 vials of remifentanil and 10 bottles of morphine.
Fentanyl and remifentanil are up to 100 times as potent as morphine.
Toner said fentanyl patches were designed to give a constant dose of medication to patients with severe pain over a 72-hour period.
But people who take the drug illicitly bypass the patch's safety measures and take that 72-hour dose in a single hit.
Based on the number of patients he sees at the emergency department, Toner said there is already a considerable supply of opioids available to addicts in the region, and the recent theft could add to that number.
But Toner added there's no guarantee those drugs would make it to Sudbury's streets, and could end up elsewhere if they make it to the black market.
While illicit drugs are an issue in Sudbury, and across Canada, Toner said physicians and pharmacists also have a responsibility not to over-prescribe powerful opioids.
“We need to make sure we're not becoming a bigger part of this problem,” he said.
Toner said awareness has increased in the last few years about the possible alternatives to opioids, such as anti-inflammatory drugs,
In 2012 the province created the Narcotics Monitoring System which gives pharmacists access to a database of drugs prescribed to Ontario patients.
But Toner said the system still needs work, and is lacking compared to similar systems in other provinces like Nova Scotia and British Columbia.
Physicians do not yet have access to the system, and need to consult with a pharmacist if they want to see what a patient has been prescribed by other doctors.
Toner said one issue is that Ontario's size – both geographically and in terms of population – makes implementing such a system more complicated than in smaller provinces.
