Almost 2 million Ontarians given opioids, despite calls to rein in prescribing: report
TORONTO — Almost two million Ontarians — or 14 per cent of the province’s population — filled prescriptions for opioids in fiscal year 2015-2016, says a new report, suggesting that patients continued to be given the potent narcotics despite efforts to curtail what’s been called a national epidemic of overuse.
The report by Health Quality Ontario, released Wednesday, found that more than nine million prescriptions for the powerful painkillers were filled between April 1, 2015, and March 31, 2016, the most recent fiscal year for which data is available. That figure represents an increase of 450,000 prescriptions over the same period three years earlier.
Not only did the number of prescriptions spiral upward, but there was also a trend toward doctors choosing more potent versions of the drugs, as well as a spike in the number of patients receiving the medications, said Dr. Joshua Tepper, president and CEO of the provincial agency.
“Despite people (being) aware of the significant impact and danger of opioids, we continue to see a steady increase in the number of prescriptions being written,” said Tepper.