SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE - Health officials continue to remain silent on a coroner's report that raises questions about an antidepressant used by two Yellowknife men before they died.

A March 11 coroner's report into the death of one 20-year-old man who overdosed on Venlafaxine last February found the drug, more commonly known as Effexor, can worsen depression and increase suicidal thoughts when it's prescribed to patients who are already at risk of harming themselves.

The report made three recommendations to the Department of Health and Social Services about how to deal with prescribing it. The NWT Coroner's Service called for a warning notice and a review of protocols for prescribing the drug for patients with depression and suicidal tendencies, as well as more education about the drug for physicians.

The report also said the territory needs a detox centre because the NWT's hospitals aren't staffed or equipped to deal with the level of drug and alcohol abuse in the North.

Health Minister Sandy Lee is still refusing to comment on the report's suggestions.

On Monday, Andrew Matthews, communications officer for the premier, said Lee would not be available for an interview because the report was a "policy issue."

"It's not a political thing, it's a medical thing. It's not really something you want to politicize," Matthews said.

Last week, Kay Lewis, CEO of Stanton Territorial Hospital, told Yellowknifer she wouldn't review the report unless she received direction from the Department of Health and Social Services first.

Department spokesperson Damien Healy said health officials won't be commenting until the end of March, pushing back a response weeks later than what the department had first indicated. Healy said earlier on March 16 that health officials would be commenting this week.

Healy said a group of clinical experts, including doctors, will be meeting later this week to review the report. He said they'll decide whether or not policy changes are needed based on the coroner's report.

He said after receiving direction from the group, Lee will respond to the coroner's recommendations.

"You'll have a story then," Healy said.

Garth Eggenberger, chief coroner, said he hoped the recommendations raised awareness about the drug but said, in his experience, it could be up to six months before the department responds.

He said if the health department didn't respond by that time, he would re-issue the report. The department can choose to ignore the recommendations if it sees fit and the coroner's office can only make suggestions, he said.

Eggenberger said his office's findings in relation to the 20-year-old's death could signal a pattern and larger problems with the way the drug is prescribed - for instance, allowing patients to fill several months worth of the prescription at once.

In a second case, Phil McNeil, a 26-year-old Yellowknife man who was missing for seven months before his body was found near Con Mine in May of last year, was prescribed Effexor two days before he disappeared. McNeil's cause of death couldn't be determined.