Prescription for life: Addressing opioid overdose in Ontario

The Province of Ontario has become a leader in Canada when it comes to per-capita opioid prescribing and high-dose opioid dispensing, and along with it has earned 13 straight years of record setting opioid overdose fatalities. While it is far from the type of 'record' that Ontario should be proud of setting, it seems to sit relatively idle when it comes to taking action towards preventing the deadly issue of opioid overdose.

A group of drug strategy representatives from across the Province known as the Municipal Drug Strategy Co-ordinator’s Network of Ontario (MDSCNO) have taken up the tremendous task of releasing a detailed report on "key actions urgently needed to improve opioid safety and reduce accidental opioid overdose fatalities and injuries by expanding access to the emergency medicine naloxone." The summary report (released June 2015) entitled "Prescription For Life" calls upon the Province of Ontario, the Government of Canada and all involved Agencies to take immediate action in order to help prevent accidental deaths and injuries due to opioid overdose.

In order to for to put a dent in the record setting opioid overdose fatalities, several different steps need to be taken. The Municipal Drug Strategy Co-ordinator's Network of Ontario's (now on referred to as MDSCNO) 'key actions' center heavily around the availability of the drug called "Naloxone," or sometimes known as Narcan. Naloxone is "the opioid antagonist that has been used to effectively revive victims of opioid overdose for decades, in hospital emergency rooms and by select paramedics." When this medication is placed in the right set of hands, it can truly save lives.

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