A Vancouver physician is prescribing fentanyl to patients with opioid-use disorder in the latest effort by the medical community to curb overdose deaths caused by a toxic supply of illicit drugs.
The pilot project began in July with eight patients who sought treatment for illicit-drug use but have not benefited from existing oral or injectable substitution therapies such as methadone, buprenorphine (Suboxone) or hydromorphone.
Each patient gets a fentanyl patch – commonly used to treat chronic pain for conditions such as cancer – that is applied to the skin and changed every two days by a nurse. To address misuse, the patches are signed and dated, and a transparent film is applied to prevent tampering. It is believed to be the first formal program of its kind.
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B.C. declared a public-health emergency due to overdoses in April, 2016. In the three years since, according to the centre for disease control, the number of people on methadone in B.C. increased by almost 10 per cent, or 1,342 people; buprenorphine (Suboxone), by almost 142 per cent, or 3,417 people.
Newer treatments include slow-release oral morphine, which 1,581 people are now on; injectable hydromorphone (108 people); and injectable, pharmaceutical-grade heroin (122 people).
