Latest trends in opioid-related deaths in Ontario

Latest trends in opioid-related deaths: exploring differences among men and women

“…We used the same cohort described in our April 2017 report 1 to investigate trends in the number and rate of opioid-related deaths occurring in Ontario between 1991 and 2015. Briefly, we examined the rate of opioid-related deaths between 1991 and 2015 by sex using population estimates from Statistics Canada as the denominator.…”

“…For example, in 2015, 55% of prescription opioid recipients were women, while the ODPRN's recent report found that 66% of opioid-related deaths were among men. 1 Furthermore, gender differences in patterns of injection drug use exist, and several national reports have identified women who inject drugs as a particularly high risk population who would benefit from additional harm reduction services. 2,3 For these reasons, and given stakeholder feedback received following the publication of our April 2017 report on trends in opioid-related deaths across Ontario, we have generated this supplemental report outlining some of the trends and characteristics of opioid-related deaths, stratified by sex.…”

‘Delisting’ OxyContin® to reduce prescription opioid‐related harms in Ontario (Canada)—gauging effects 5 years later

“…Since then, the rates of POA misuse and POA‐related morbidity (eg, emergency department and treatment admissions) as well as mortality (ie, fatal poisonings) have risen dramatically, to the point where opioid‐related deaths now occur at rates similar to those from other major diseases or causes of injuries (eg, motor‐vehicle accidents, burn‐related) and have reverted gains in life expectancy among adult Americans . In Canada—where the absolute quantity of harm outcomes are smaller compared to the United States given the smaller population base—POA‐related misuse, morbidity and mortality effects have been proportionally similar to the United States . The extensive harm toll related to POAs in Canada and the United States is documented to be driven by the exceptionally high POA prescription rates in those 2 countries, which are substantially higher than in any other country in the world .…”

“…The extensive harm toll related to POAs in Canada and the United States is documented to be driven by the exceptionally high POA prescription rates in those 2 countries, which are substantially higher than in any other country in the world . In both countries, an increasing contribution of illicitly manufactured opioids—both heroin and synthetic opioid products—to opioid‐related mortality has been observed recently, although the extent of this cannot be exactly quantified …”

Changes in the dispensing of opioid medications in Canada following the introduction of a tamper-deterrent formulation of long-acting oxycodone: a time series analysis

“…In the US, similar changes in opioid prescribing patterns following the introduction of tamper-deterrent oxycodone have been associated with increased reports of using heroin to get "high" 22 and accelerated rates of heroin overdoses. 18 Although the impact of this 23,24 Despite our inability to determine the extent to which this was driven by changes in patterns of dispensing of long-acting opioids, these findings highlight a need for further exploration of the potential consequences of these shifts on patient outcomes.…”