A Regional Supervising Coroner says it’s too soon to tell if recent overdose deaths are connected to the changes in obtaining Oxycontin.
The Toronto Star reported recently that up to three deaths have occurred in northern Ontario and are being probed by the provincial coroner’s office to see if they are linked to the recent OxyContin changes. According to the most recent data from the chief coroner’s office, the number of deaths associated with narcotics has remained roughly the same for the past couple of years.
From 2005 to 2009, the number of deaths related to Oxycodone was 646, compared to 423 deaths from Morphine, 146 deaths related to hydromophone, 210 and 88 from heroin.
The highest number of deaths from Oxycodone was recorded in 2008 when 148 fatalities were recorded.
But that number dropped by five the next year.
Office of the Chief Coroner: Data on Deaths Associated with Narcotics in Ontario
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Year -Oxycodone -Morphine -Hydromorphone -Fentanyl -Heroin -Total
2005 96 84 23 34 13 250
2006 119 91 25 27 9 271
2007 140 86 28 41 22 317
2008 148 90 38 51 23 350
2009 143 72 32 57 21 325
Total 646 423 146 210 88 1,513
Craig Muir, Regional Supervising Coroner for the Northern Region in Sudbury, said overdosing is common in Ontario, but linking any of those deaths to OxyContin will take some time.
“We’re looking province-wide for any deaths that may or may not be attributable to OxyContin changes and substitutions,” Muir told tbnewswatch.com during a phone interview Tuesday afternoon.
“The number of cases is not clear yet and we’re simply collecting information. The three cases that I’ve seen in print are under investigation.
“Overdose deaths are fairly common. So when we see an overdose death that may have something to do with OxyContin or some of the other narcotic medications, we flag them to look to see if there’s a relationship between recent changes in availability.”
He said overdoses usually happen accidentally. But with the recent changes to the availability of OxyContin there’s concerns about an increase in overdose.
For now, it is too soon to tell if any of the deaths are connected to that change.
“Those three cases are being looked at among cases specifically with respect to the changes in availability of Oxycodone,” he said.
“This isn’t even a month old. This process is going to take several months.
