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Canada - B.C. doctors can't limit opioids or discriminate against pain patients

S.J.B.

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B.C. doctors can't limit opioids or discriminate against pain patients: college
Camille Bains
The Globe and Mail
June 6th, 2018

British Columbia doctors treating patients with chronic pain will be required to prescribe opioids without limiting dosage or refusing to see patients who are on the medication that has come to be associated with illicit overdose deaths.

In revising an existing standard of practice, the College of Physicians and Surgeons of B.C. provided more clarity to doctors about their obligation to treat patients through proper assessments and documented discussions about dosage, tapering and stopping the drugs if necessary, college registrar Heidi Oetter said.

The new requirements, yet to be introduced to physicians, update a June 2016 standard that replaced national guidelines offering only recommendations and meant B.C. physicians became the first in Canada to face mandatory regulations involving prescription opioids.

The original standard was set after B.C. declared a public health emergency in April 2016 over of a spike in overdose deaths, mostly involving the powerful painkiller fentanyl being cut into street drugs. The province still has the highest number of overdose fatalities in Canada, with 1,448 deaths recorded last year.

Oetter said the standard was revised after widespread consultation of doctors in the province and patient advocacy groups that had complained people were being denied care or abandoned because they were on opioids.

Read the full story here.
 
Good!

Looks like B.C. is leading the way AGAIN in terms of corresponding progressive policies.

Hopefully this spreads to other provinces, because there are a great deal of citizens who're longtime chronic pain patients residing throughout the remainder of the country (myself not included) who were denied care or abandoned because they were on opioids (carefully-supervised regimens). Despite not being at fault whatsoever, the number has, nevertheless, reportedly been staggering. Not cool at all. This issue was handled horribly, and countless vulnerable individuals have suffered greatly for it. Sad.
 
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