BENEDIKT FISCHER, A SENIOR SCIENTIST AT THE CENTRE FOR ADDICTION AND MENTAL HEALTH IN TORONTO, TOLD THE CONFERENCE THAT PEOPLE WHO ARE DYING FROM OPIOIDS AREN’T GETTING THE DRUGS ON THE STREET, BUT THROUGH PRESCRIPTIONS. (Sean Kilpatrick/THE CANADIAN PRESS)
“The people who are dying are not street users; they are being introduced to these drugs medically.”
Opioids overuse is the “worst man-made epidemic in modern medical history,” a leading expert on workers’ compensation told Canadian physicians Wednesday, urging them to take tough and immediate action to address the problem. Dr. Gary Franklin, medical director of the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, said two people an hour are dying of opioids misuse in the United States, and, proportionally, the problem is likely as bad, if not worse, in Canada.
Read the complete Globe and Mail article by André Picard here
