Ontario health unit miscounts opioid-linked deaths; total deaths much lower
WINDSOR, Ont. — A public health official in a southwestern Ontario community says his health agency miscounted the number of opioid-linked deaths in the area for 2015, with the total actually significantly lower than a figure published in a report in March.
Dr. Wajid Ahmed, the associate medical officer of health with the Windsor-Essex County Health Unit, says there were actually 24 opioid-related deaths in 2015 and not 43, but the rate of deaths remains above the provincial average.
Ahmed says there was a mix up in geography when the public health unit received information from the Ontario coroner’s office, leading the health agency to count opioid-linked deaths in the City of Windsor twice.
Despite the change, Ahmed says the general conclusion of the report still stands that Windsor and Essex County has an opioid problem.