A Death Review Panel report released Thursday reviewed all illicit drug overdose deaths in British Columbia over a 19-month period, and makes recommendations to a number of ministries in government and related colleges in the province.
The BC Coroners Service Death Review Panel: A Review of Illicit Drug Overdoses examined all illicit drug overdose deaths in B.C. between Jan. 1, 2016, and July 31, 2017. The panel identified three areas of focus toward reducing illicit drug overdose deaths in B.C.:
- 1. The need to provincially regulate and appropriately oversee treatment and recovery programs and facilities to ensure that they provide evidence-based quality care, and that outcomes are closely monitored and evaluated;
- 2. The need to expand access to evidence-based addiction care across the continuum, including improved opioid agonist therapies (OAT) and injectable opioid agonist therapies (iOAT) access, as well as a full spectrum of recovery supports; and,
- 3. The need to improve safer drug-use, through the creation of accessible provincial drug checking services using validated technologies.
The Death Review Panel, chaired by Michael Egilson, included 21 panel experts from health care, policing, corrections, First Nations, education, and mental health and addictions.
“The clearest finding that has come through this review is the reaffirmation that the biggest problem we face in terms of overdose deaths is the recent increase in drug toxicity,” said Egilson. “In particular, the potency and content of illicit substances is unpredictable; this is why we’re advocating for access to safer drug use, including opioid agonist therapy, tools like drug checking and Take Home Naloxone kits, as well as an evidence-based treatment and recovery system of care.”
The Death Review Panel report makes recommendations aimed at helping to curb the trend of illicit drug overdose deaths in the province. The full report is available at: http://ow.ly/HR1S30jk21U
The release of the Death Review Panel report comes in conjunction with BC Coroners Service’s updated illicit drug overdose death statistics to the end of February 2018. There were 102 suspected illicit drug overdose deaths in February 2018, a 16 per cent decrease over the number of deaths in February 2017, and a 19 per cent decrease over the number of deaths occurring in January 2018 (126). The average number of illicit drug overdose deaths in February 2018 is 3.6 deaths per day.
