Dead of a Drug Overdose

I do not know how many times I have read an incident or risk report with the words “Client Death.” Followed by “This client was found dead of a drug overdose.” Most of the time I read the name of the person and think I may have met them in our lobby or would know them from the street. Sometimes I don’t know them at all and I regret that.

I always wonder who they are leaving behind and what their last moments were. Were they alone? Most of the time they are alone. A drug they have consumed countless times; feeding an addiction that kills them. Taking drugs these days is akin to Russian Roulette.

In 2017 eleven people a day or nearly 4000 people a year died from opioid overdoses.

An epidemic by any other name and yet the resources we are putting towards dealing with this epidemic are woefully inadequate. The resources are fought for tooth and nail by sector advocates, families and health providers.

If this was a meningococcal outbreak threatening our youth there would be an immediate outpouring of resources. Because this is a drug epidemic killing people who are often marginalized, resources are begrudgingly given. The recent temporary halt to funding overdose prevention sites by the new government in Ontario is one example of the hurdles the health system faces in trying to address this epidemic. Stephen Harper fought for years to eliminate the lifesaving InSite in east Vancouver finally losing a Supreme Court battle.

Behind every one of these deaths is a family who has been impacted by seeing their loved one spiral into a horrible illness.  The death by overdose is an expected outcome. When my own brother was in the grip of addiction I fully anticipated being in the front row with the rest of my family at his funeral. Fortunately, he found the treatment needed to achieve a very hard-earned recovery. Sadly nearly 4000 people in Canada did not find that treatment and families across the country are without their loved ones.

The stigma associated with addiction, mental illness and street involvement is a huge and well documented barrier to treatment. People who show up to hospital are treated for their symptoms and are sent back to the street (and their dealers) with no follow up. There are many communities across Ontario where there is little or no connection made to an addiction counsellor or a social worker or a treatment agency. Imagine showing up to hospital with a heart attack and being discharged with no follow up. An addiction – a health issue – is so often treated differently because of stigma, moral judgement and ignorance.

In 2003 the SARS outbreak hit Canada. There was a massive response to the outbreak by both federal and provincial governments. When the SARS dust settled there were a total of 44 deaths from 438 suspect SARS infections. It is estimated SARS response cost the Ontario health system 945 million dollars and had a further impact on the Canadian economy of half a billion dollars. To put the opioid epidemic into perspective in 2014 the cost of the epidemic to our economy was 3.5 billion dollars. The Ontario response to the epidemic is 222 million dollars in funding over three years. People are dying in far greater numbers because of opioids compared to SARS and the response is frighteningly inadequate.

Unless there is a more adequate response to this epidemic people are going to continue to die in record numbers. Figures for 2018 indicate Canada is on track to see another 4000 plus opioid deaths; deaths that are mostly preventable with the right intervention and access to treatment.

This is about health equity and recognizing the burden of disease. Make no mistake – addiction is a disease. Until we eliminate the stigma associated with this disease people will continue to die in record numbers and families and service providers will continue to read the words “Dead of a drug overdose.”