Fentanyl deaths hold steady
Review aimed to better understand opioid overdoses
Shane Magee
Northern News Services
Wednesday, July 13, 2016
SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
The territory isn't seeing a spike in fentanyl overdose deaths like in other parts of Canada, a review of deaths and hospitalization data released this week indicates.
NWT Chief Coroner Cathy Menard, left, listens as NWT Chief Public Health Officer Dr. André Corriveau speaks about the number of overdose deaths in the territory Tuesday. - Shane Magee/NNSL photo |
Between 2009 and 2014, 27 people across the territory died from an accidental narcotics overdose, four of them with fentanyl in their system. Another death from fentanyl was recorded in 2015, outside the review period. So far none have been confirmed this year.
One of the people in these cases had a prescription for fentanyl, which is often used to deal with severe pain in cancer patients. The people in the other cases had acquired fentanyl illegally. Police and medical professionals have warned that users can't be sure about the consistency of the illegal form - one pill could be weak while another from the same batch may contain enough to kill a person.
NWT Chief Coroner Cathy Menard and NWT Chief Public Health Officer Dr. Andre Corriveau held a news conference Tuesday about the findings of their joint review.
Fentanyl, an opioid about 100 times more powerful than morphine, has been linked to an exponential increase in overdose deaths in British Columbia and Alberta.
"Certainly in terms of fentanyl, we're not seeing the sharp rise that other provinces are," Corriveau said, adding that doesn't necessarily mean it will stay that way.
The review did not include 2015, the year with the most deaths in southern provinces, because data was not complete when it began. The review started to get a better sense of fentanyl's impact. However, given the relatively low numbers, the it was broadened to include all narcotics, which includes drugs like heroin and other prescription painkillers.
Of the total accidental narcotic overdoses, 13 were in the jurisdiction of the Yellowknife Health and Social Services Authority, which includes Yellowknife, Dettah, Ndilo, Fort Resolution and Lutsel K'e.
About 30 per cent of those the 27 who accidentally overdosed also had alcohol in their system, the review found.
The overall number of overdose deaths and hospitalizations peaked in young adults and seniors. Corriveau speculated the younger group was related to addictions issues while the number of prescriptions the older group tends to have could be a cause.
Two-thirds of the total accidental deaths were females. There was no ready answer to why more females died.
Corriveau and Menard said they will continue to work together to monitor the issue but it's unlikely a similar report would be produced regularly, given the staff time needed to produce it.
Corriveau said there's no "magic bullet" to address fentanyl but said it's good to have naloxone, also known as Narcan, available prescription free in Canada. The drug is an antidote for opioid overdoses.
However, that's not the case in the territory. The GNWT has yet to make a required change to allow the drug to be available in pharmacies prescription-free, a move other provinces have made to combat deaths.
The final line in the report states better monitoring of trends around deaths can happen if the territory implements a territorial poison data system and a prescription drug monitoring program. The program would provide an electronic link between doctors and pharmacists to see what patients are already prescribed, track prescription trends and possibly highlight abuse.
The Department of Health and Social Services previously said such a monitoring system would be in place by fall 2015. This hasn't yet happened.
Despite the line in the review, Corriveau said he believes electronic medical records may be able to play a role similar to a prescription monitoring system, though that system hasn't been fully implemented across the territory yet.
"We might be able to achieve as much (with that system)," Corriveau said. "That's what we're focusing on now."
