Click on the links below to view the latest news stories from leading media outlets highlighting ODPRN research and scientists.
Opioids responsible for one in every four deaths among young adults: study
The staggering cost of illicit drug toxicity in Canada, especially among young people, is laid bare in new research published Monday that highlights rapid increases in opioid-related deaths with the arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic.
April 15, 2024 | The Toronto Star | News Article | Associated Research
Ontario is in the midst of a drug crisis. These seven charts tell us who’s being hit hardest
The research highlights, among other things, the disproportionate impact that opioid overdoses are having on Black, Asian and Latin American drug users and raises questions about whether the province’s racialized communities are getting the help they need.
April 1, 2024 | The Toronto Star | News Article | Associated Research
Ontario overdose deaths reveal gap between health care system and addiction treatment, report finds
The report, published by the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network and Public Health Ontario, highlights an urgent need to make treatment services more accessible, said Tara Gomes, one of the authors.
March 5, 2024 | The Globe and Mail | News Article | Associated Research
A new study has found that only one in 18 people who ended up in hospital in Ontario after an opioid overdose were prescribed drugs known to help manage opioid use disorders in the following week —despite this mitigation strategy being recommended in Canada for years.
January 5, 2024 | CTV News | News Article | Associated Research
Rise in overdoses in Six Nations has community concerned
According to a recent report by the Chiefs of Ontario and the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network, hospital visits to treat opioid-related toxicity among First Nations people in Ontario doubled in 2021 and the rate of opioid-related deaths nearly tripled compared to 2019.
December 21, 2023 | CBC News | News Article | Associated Research
Few patients receive opioid agonist therapy after opioid overdose, despite benefits: Study
“These results highlight critical missed opportunities to prevent future mortality and morbidity related to opioid use, despite connection to health care for many patients in the days after a toxicity event,” writes Dr. Tara Gomes.
December 18, 2023 | Medical Express | News Article | Associated Research
Opioid deaths doubled among First Nations people in Ontario amid pandemic, report says
The Chiefs of Ontario and the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network also released a report analyzing opioid use, related harms and access to treatment among First Nations in Ontario on Friday.
November 26, 2023 | The Canadian Press | News Article | Associated Research
Cocaine use rising in Canada, new data suggests, as researchers link stimulants to drug deaths
A report by Gomes, released in September by the ODPRN and Public Health Ontario, showed nearly 2,900 Ontarians died from consuming a toxic substance in 2021 — nearly double the number from just three years prior.
November 2, 2023 | CBC News | News Article | Associated Research
Opioid-related deaths, ER visits higher in London region compared to the rest of Ontario
Emergency department visits related to opioids in the region have increased 92 per cent from January 2020 to the end of December last year, according to a report from the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network and Public Health Ontario.
October 19, 2023 | CBC News | News Article | Associated Research
Opioid deaths continue at high levels: federal report
The federal government’s latest report on opioid overdoses across the country suggests measures taken to combat the crisis have not yet had the effect of slowing its use.
October 16, 2023 | Construct Connect | News Article | Associated Research
Counterpoint: The evidence shows that safer supply drug programs work
A recent Ontario Drug Policy Research Network review of 20 published studies and program evaluations found positive health and social outcomes for people receiving safer supply.
October 12, 2023 | National Post | News Article | Associated Research
Huge spike in drug- and alcohol-related deaths in Ontario, new report finds
Accidental drug-related deaths nearly doubled during the pandemic in Ontario, with an average of eight people dying every day in 2021, according to a new report that underscores the severity and growing complexity of the crisis.
September 14, 2023 | The Globe and Mail | News Article | Associated Research
Ontario’s opioid-related deaths remain above pre-pandemic levels
Opioid deaths among those aged 15 to 24 surged during the first year of the pandemic, according to research led by the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network at Unity Health Toronto.
August 9, 2023 | Global News | News Article | Associated Research
Opioid-related deaths increasing among youths in Ontario
Opioid-related deaths are increasing among youths aged 15 to 24 years in the province of Ontario, Canada, while the use of opioid agonist treatment (OAT) is declining, according to new research.
July 14, 2023 | Medscape | News Article | Associated Research
Deaths due to opioid toxicity up in U.S. during COVID-19
Deaths due to opioid toxicity increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study published online July 7 in JAMA Network Open.
July 13, 2023 | Medical Xpress | News Article | Associated Research
Thousands of Canadian drug users dying as government red tape limits help, advocates say
Gomes and her colleagues have been tracking the switch to inhalation — a trend fuelled by multiple factors: pandemic isolation, the wear and tear on veins from injecting powerful opioids like fentanyl and public health advice that smoking reduces risk from an increasingly toxic supply.
July 13, 2023 | CBC News | News Article | Associated Research
Opioid death rates tripled for Ontario teens, young adults since 2014, research shows
Opioid-related deaths among teens and young adults in Ontario tripled from 2014 to 2021, while drug treatment rates significantly decreased, a new report shows.
June 27, 2023 | Global News | News Article | Associated Research
Mixed picture of benzodiazepine-related toxicity in Ontario
The rate of benzodiazepine-related toxicity in Ontario, Canada, has decreased overall but has increased among young people, data indicate.
June 22, 2023 | Medscape | News Article | Associated Research
London doctor rips ‘unfounded anecdotes’ about safe drug supply programs
A leading Ontario drug researcher and a London streetfront doctor are firing back at a recent surge of criticism about safer opioid supply programs.
May 18, 2023 | The London Free Press | News Article | Associated Research
Public invited to comment on Cambridge supervised drug consumption site
A November report for the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network examined coroners’ reports on overdose deaths. It found that the percentage of deaths in Waterloo Region involving smoking was almost twice as high as the number where drugs were injected. Smoking overdose deaths amounted to about 61 per cent, compared to 50 per cent provincially.
February 21, 2023 | The Record | News Article | Associated Research
To save Lowertown, Ottawa council must change its approach
A report by the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network did find that among people who died of opioid toxicity, one-third of them worked in the construction industry.
February 16, 2023 | Ottawa Citizen | News Article | Associated Research
Health Canada reviewing safety of controversial breastfeeding drug
This makes it challenging for regulators like Health Canada to evaluate the safety of a drug for an off-label purpose, said Mina Tadrous, an assistant professor at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Toronto who specializes in drug safety.
January 30, 2023 | CBC News | News Article
Explainer: Pharmacists address questions over new prescribing powers in Ontario
“Although there are a few voices that are raising these flags, generally most physicians welcome this,” said Mina Tadrous, an assistant professor of pharmacy at the University of Toronto who specializes in drug policy and has been monitoring the reaction.
January 21, 2023 | Toronto Star | News Article
Recent overdose deaths in Simcoe-Muskoka part of an ‘ongoing trend,’ experts say
Dr. Tara Gomes, the lead principal investigator of the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network housed at Toronto’s St. Michael’s Hospital, says the Simcoe-Muskoka data mirrors what’s happening across the country.
January 17, 2023 | CBC News | News Article
This First Nation elder created a healing centre in her backyard
Another report, released in November by the Chiefs of Ontario and the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network, found the illicit overdose death rate for Indigenous people doubled during the first year of the pandemic.
January 14, 2023 | The Globe and Mail | News Article | Associated Research
Street drugs in Canada are becoming more toxic — and tools to treat them less effective. Why?
Tara Gomes, a scientist at Unity Health Toronto and director of the Ontario Drug Policy Research Network, says the increasing unpredictability in the drug supply in Canada poses challenges for community-based programs that help people who use drugs, as they are not set up to handle the longer-term care that may be required to aid someone overdosing from opioids mixed with benzos.
January 12, 2023 | Global News | News Article
Cold and flu medication shortage across Canada is a ‘wake-up call,’ pharmacists say
There haven’t been any identified issues on the manufacturing end that would account for these shortages, said Mina Tadrous, an assistant professor of pharmacy at the University of Toronto who specializes in drug policy and surveillance of medications.
January 7, 2023 | Toronto Star | News Article
Changing nature of Canada’s overdose crisis calls for more aggressive response, experts say
Gomes and some of her colleagues released a report this past November that found a similar trend in Ontario. Between January 2018 and June 2021, half of the opioid toxicity deaths in the province were linked to smoking or inhalation.
January 3, 2023 | CBC News | News Article | Associated Research
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